WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Six years after the terror attacks on the United States, al-Qaida remains the most serious threat, two intelligence officers told a U.S. Senate panel.
Al-Qaida’s evolution includes developing new safe havens, altered leadership and merging with regional terrorist groups that “may be more willing to assist al-Qaida in carrying out attacks against the homeland,” FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Monday.
Mike McConnell, director of National Intelligence, spoke on the terrorist threat in the six years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Homegrown extremists have become “one of the gravest domestic threats,” Mueller said. He noted, however, the level of extremism inside the United States “does not equal that in the United Kingdom or elsewhere in Europe.”
The FBI has experienced “unprecedented change” during the last six years, in the areas of intelligence, personnel, training and partnerships.
