| Intel says alqaeda strong based pakistan border { July 17 2007 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12025664http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12025664
Nation Report: Al-Qaida is Persistent, Evolving Threat
NPR.org, July 17, 2007 · Al-Qaida presents a "persistent and evolving" terrorist threat to the U.S. in the next three years, according to a new intelligence estimate to be made public Tuesday.
The terror network will bolster its operations in the country and other related activities, the new National Intelligence Estimate is expected to say.
Several of the nation's top intelligence officials – including National Intelligence Council Chairman Thomas Fingar and FBI Deputy Director John Pistole - were to brief reporters on the declassified key findings of the document, which was years in the making.
According to details of the report seen by The Associated Press, al-Qaida is believed to be still seeking chemical, biological or nuclear weapons and would use them if it developed sufficient capability.
The group has been able to restore safe havens in Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan. It has also renewed its leadership structure after U.S. operations either captured or killed many of the organization's top commanders.
The report comes on the same day that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace issued his most optimistic remarks on Iraq since the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq began earlier this year.
Speaking in Ramadi, Iraq, Pace was asked whether he thought it was wise to continue the current strategy, with extra U.S. troops battling to secure Baghdad and Anbar province.
"What I'm hearing now is a sea change that is taking place in many places here," he replied. "It's no longer a matter of pushing al-Qaida out of Ramadi, for example, but rather - now that they have been pushed out - helping the local police and the local army have a chance to get their feet on the ground and set up their systems."
Pace said earlier in Baghdad that the U.S. military is continuing various options for Iraq, including an even bigger troop buildup if President Bush thinks his "surge" strategy needs a further boost.
Meanwhile, dozens of Shiite villagers in Iraq's north were massacred by Sunni extremists, two officials said Tuesday, while a car bomb exploded across the street from the Iranian Embassy in the heart of Baghdad and killed four civilians.
Shiite legislators loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr also decided to end their five-week boycott of parliament, one of their leaders said. The Shiite protest along with a separate Sunni boycott had blocked work on key benchmark legislation demanded by the U.S.
From NPR reports and The Associated Press
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