Thwarting of airline terror plot 'major achievement'
John Michael McConnell is the current US director of intelligence
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Tuesday, 27, Feb 2007 06:57
The United States' director of intelligence, John Michael McConnell, has named the foiling of an alleged terror plot to blow up transatlantic airliners in mid-air as a "major accomplishment" in the fight against terrorism.
Delivering his annual threat assessment to the US Senate's armed services committee, Mr McConnell cited last summer's plot as the chief accomplishment of anti-terror efforts made by western countries.
He also included the deaths of "two of al-Qaida's top bombmakers" in April 2006, the assassination of "Iraq's murderous leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqaqi" and the disruption of operations in Iraq by insurgency terror group Ansar al-Sunna in his list of achievements.
But Mr McConnell warned that the use of conventional explosives by al-Qaida remained the greatest threat to US security.
"Al-Qaida is the terrorist organisation that poses the greatest threat to US interests, including to the homeland," he said.
"We have captured or killed numerous senior al-Qaida operatives, but we also have seen that al-Qaida's core elements are resilient. They continue to plot attacks against our homeland and other targets with the objective of inflicting mass casualties."
He warned that "sectarian divisions [in Iraq] are widening" but said that Iraqi security forces had become significantly more numerous and capable in the last year.
On Afghanistan, Mr McConnell predicted that 2007 would be a "pivotal year" and said it was vital that the "Taliban safe haven" in Pakistan be eliminated.
"After terrorism, the ongoing efforts of nation-states and terrorists to develop and/or acquire dangerous weapons and delivery systems constitute the second major threat to the safety of our nation, our deployed troops, and our friends," he said, citing North Korea and "an emboldened Iran" as the two main threats.