WASHINGTON, Dec 28: The White House said on Thursday it did not see any significant increase in terrorism threats as Americans prepared to usher in the new year with the September 11, 2001 attacks still fresh in the mind.

“We're on alert this time of year, but we don't see any significant uptake in threats,” Fran Townsend, the assistant to President George W. Bush for homeland security and counter-terrorism, told the ABC News television network.

But she said the authorities were keeping a close eye on possible reprisals if ex-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was hanged.

Ms Townsend said the US military in Iraq was prepared for such a backlash and the authorities would maintain normal security alert at home.

“Our military is obviously there, positioned, preparing for the time to come. But we use the same security measures here that we always do,” she said.

Ms Townsend recently spent a day with New York City police Commissioner Ray Kelly to see how they were planning to keep revellers safe on new year's eve.

“They laid out what their security plan is ... New York is a model on how a city government approaches this sort of event. They've had a lot of experience, take it very seriously,” she said. —AFP