Al Qaeda Still Dangerous, Planning Attacks

P E N T A G O N, July 18 -- The Bush administration rarely mentions Osama bin Laden anymore, and officials admit they don't know if he is even alive. But there is no shortage of evidence that his al Qaeda network is still alive.

There have been several recent attacks and scores of recent arrests. Though al Qaeda has been badly damaged and largely driven from Afghanistan, it is still threatening.

"It could well be that, as a dispersed organization, it's more dangerous than ever," said Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee who reads the classified reporting on al Qaeda, from interrogations of prisoners to communication intercepts.

"They are blending into societies all over the world," she said. "They're marrying local people and they are waiting for the right moment to conduct whatever kind of attack they think would work."

A growing body of evidence now indicates they are waiting in three places in particular.

One is Pakistan because it shares a rugged border with Afghanistan and has crowded major cities.

Another is Yemen, with its remote tribal areas where the bin Laden family came from and where it still has deep roots.

A third is Saudi Arabia, where many al Qaeda fighters were born and are now returning. U.S. officials say the Saudi government is not vigorously pursuing them.

Smaller groups are believed to be hiding in Europe, other parts of Africa and even the United States and Canada.

Still Communicating, Planning

"You don't take it down the way you might kill a poisonous snake by chopping off the head," said Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz on June 15 while in Afghanistan. "It's more like an infection in a body and you have to go after the pockets of infection all over the place."

Despite a nine-month effort to destroy al Qaeda, intelligence sources told ABCNEWS that the surviving leaders continue to communicate with each other, that they still have access to money, and they once again appear to be ordering teams into action against the United States.