WASHINGTON, Mar 9: CIA Director George Tenet on Tuesday warned US lawmakers that the Al Qaeda network, along with surrogate radical Muslim groups, remains capable of a devastating assault on United States territory on the scale of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.

"Catastrophic attacks on the scale of Sept 11 remain within Al Qaeda's reach," Mr Tenet told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "These plots are hatched abroad, but they target US soil or that of our allies."

Mr Tenet said that although the reach of Al Qaeda has been diminished somewhat with many of its top leaders apprehended or on the run, other radical Muslim organizations have stepped up to take its place.

"Even as Al Qaeda has been weakened, other extremist groups within the movement it influenced have become the next wave of the terrorist threat," Mr Tenet said.

"One of the most immediate threats is from smaller international Sunni extremist groups who have benefited from Al Qaeda's links," Mr Tenet said. "For the growing number of jihadists interested in attacking the United States, a spectacular attack on the US homeland is the 'brass ring' that many strive for - with or without encouragement by Al Qaeda's central leadership," Mr Tenet testified.

"The steady spread of Osama bin Laden's anti-US sentiment ... ensures that a serious threat will remain for the foreseeable future, with or without al-Qaeda in the picture." -AFP