No Sign Al Qaeda Ready To Strike

There is no evidence to back Osama bin Laden's claim that al Qaeda is gearing up to attack the United States, but there are signs the group is active in the country, a leading Republican lawmaker said. A new tape by the militant leader, aired on Thursday, said U.S. "operations are under preparation and you will see them in your houses as soon as they are completed." Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican who chairs the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said there was no reason to believe the threats were anything other than bluster to rally support among his followers. As committee chairman, King has special access to classified information on homeland security."We are taking it seriously," King told Reuters in an interview, but he added, "There is nothing that I've seen that would indicate that the threat to the United States is any greater or worse than it was a week ago, or a month ago. Still, the congressman said attacks were possible and it was important for the United States to stay on its guard. "I believe there is evidence of al Qaeda activity in this country," King said. "We are still such an open society they can always pull off a cheap attack. An easy one somewhere." He would not give any specifics on the kind of al Qaeda activity he was referring to, but said it was more than someone's willingness to provide a safe house, for example. King said bin Laden had sought to energize his followers with the audiotape, but questioned whether he had been successful. He said the al Qaeda leader had sounded "almost desperate" explaining the absence of U.S. attacks since September 11, and that his voice had been weaker than usual.On the tape, bin Laden said there had been no recent strikes inside the United States because preparations were still under way. "Rather than a real show of strength, they (his followers) could have looked upon it as a show of some desperation. But it's always a judgment call. You're never going to hear me say we've defeated al Qaeda or he's on his last legs or something like that, at least not for a while," King said. "I think we have him off balance and he's trying to get back in the game and he's not fully succeeding. This ebbs and flows. Right now I think it's going our way," he said.