US president George W Bush denied today that al Qaeda is as strong today as it was before the September 11th attacks.
Several prominent Republicans have broken ranks with the president on Iraq
Mr Bush spoke after media reports, citing a new intelligence assessment, said the militant network is now as great a threat to US soil as in the months before the 2001 hijack-plane attacks.
"There is a perception in the coverage that al Qaeda may be as strong today as they were prior to September 11th. That's just simply not the case," Mr Bush told reporters.
While administration officials have acknowledged that al Qaeda had recovered somewhat since US-led forces drove its operatives underground in Afghanistan in late 2001, Mr Bush insisted, "Because of the actions we've taken, al Qaeda is weaker today than they would have been."
"They are still a threat. They are still dangerous and that is why it is important that we succeed in Afghanistan and Iraq and anywhere else we find them," he told a news conference dominated by the release of an interim progress report on the Iraq war.
Bush put much of the blame on al Qaeda attacks for the Iraqi government's shortcomings in achieving national reconciliation. But sectarian killings between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunnis have also accounted for a large share of the death toll.
Mr Bush's comments echoed those of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who said today the threat to the United States from al Qaeda has not returned to levels seen just before the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington.
"I wouldn't put it at that level," he told ABC's Good Morning Americaprogramme.
"I do think we've accomplished an awful lot in dismantling their activities overseas and in building our own defenses. But I do think the level of intent on the part of the enemy remains very high."
The Washington Postcited a Bush administration intelligence report saying al Qaeda has significantly rebuilt itself and established a safe haven in remote tribal areas of western Pakistan.
Top intelligence analysts also told Congress on Wednesday that al Qaeda's training activities, funding and communications have increased as the militant network has settled into new bases in remote areas of Pakistan.
The security situation in Iraq is challenging and attacks could increase in coming months, a US progress report said today as President Bush faces rising pressure to shift course in the unpopular war.
The report also showed mixed progress by the Iraqi government in meeting goals set out by the US Congress.
The Republican revolt could accelerate Democratic-led efforts to try to force Mr Bush to start scaling back American troop levels in Iraq more than four years after a US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Drafted by White House officials with leading contributions from Gen. David Petraeus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the report echoed recent comments from Mr Bush saying it is too soon to gauge the 28,000 troop build-up he ordered six months ago.
The report gave the Iraqi government a satisfactory grade on eight of 18 goals set by Congress. It showed that on eight of the benchmarks, Baghdad's performance was unsatisfactory, and mixed on two others.