US intel warns al-Qaida regained its strength

A new threat assessment from US counterterrorism analysts says that al-Qaida has used its safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border to restore its operating capabilities to a level unseen since the months before Sept. 11, 2001. A counterterrorism official familiar with a five-page summary of the document - titled "Al-Qaida better positioned to strike the West" - called it a stark appraisal. The analysis will be part of a broader meeting at the White House on Thursday about an upcoming National Intelligence Estimate. The official and others spoke to The Associated Press on condition they not be identified because the report remains classified. The findings suggest that the network that launched the most devastating terror attack on US soil has been able to regroup despite nearly six years of bombings, war and other tactics aimed at dismantling it.