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US wary about election terror
20/11/2007 21:10 - (SA)
Washington - Election-period bombings in Madrid and Glasgow have raised US wariness of the possibility of a terror attack during the 2008 presidential campaign, the White House's top anti-terror official said on Tuesday.
Fran Townsend, President George W Bush's domestic security and anti-terror advisor, told CNN that the government had not detected any specific threat, but that Al-Qaeda sees elections as an opportunity to make attacks.
"What we do know is, we saw the Madrid train bombings just before the elections in Spain. After (British Prime Minister) Gordon Brown took office, we saw the bombings in Glasgow.
"We know al-Qaeda views these periods as being a particularly vulnerable period.
"But given our experience and what we know, I believe we've got a real obligation to prepare for that transition between the election and the inauguration."
Townsend said Al-Qaeda's operational capability has improved in their bases in Pakistan's tribal regions.
Townsend, one of Bush's top aides, announced on Monday that she would be leaving the White House in the beginning of 2008.
- SAPA
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