According to the new Bush administration intelligence report, the terror group is gaining strength after establishing a safe haven in remote tribal areas of western Pakistan and is also focusing increasingly on using European operatives.

The report - Al-Qaida Better Positioned To Strike The West - is a five-page threat assessment compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center, intelligence officials said.

It concludes that Al-Qaeda is 'considerably operationally stronger than a year ago' and has 'regrouped to an extent not seen since 2001' despite concerted US attempts to smash the network, according to a counterterrorism official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He added: 'They are showing greater and greater ability to plan attacks in Europe and the US.'

The group has also created 'the most robust training programme since 2001, with an interest in using European operatives', he said, while the US remains vulnerable to surprise attacks because of 'significant gaps in intelligence'.

Several European countries - among them Britain, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands - were reportedly highlighted in the threat assessment, partly because they have arrangements with the Pakistani government allowing their citizens easier access to Pakistan.

This is of particular concern to the Bush administration, because all four nations are part of the US visa waiver programme, meaning their citizens can enter America without additional security scru- tiny, the official said.

Defence Intelligence Agency Deputy Director for Analysis Robert Cardillo traced the resurgence of Al-Qaeda to a deal last year between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and tribal chiefs.

Under the deal, General Musharraf withdrew Pakistani army units from the north-west of the country on the understanding that tribal leaders would prevent the Taleban and Al-Qaeda from carrying out training and sending terrorists and arms into Afghanistan and elsewhere.

But according to the report, the agreement effectively allowed Taleban and Al-Qaeda operatives to move across the border with impunity, as well as establishing and running training centres, the official said.

The contents of the report surfaced two days after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he had a 'gut feeling' that the US faced an increased chance of a terrorist attack this summer.

A Chertoff aide would not say whether the secretary's warning was influenced by the new intelligence report.

But several federal officials, along with counterterrorism authorities in New York and Los Angeles, said they had picked up recent evidence of suspicious activity in the US and intercepted e-mail communications by Al-Qaeda members and sympathisers about a possible attack.

However, White House spokesman Tony Fratto declined to sound any alarm yesterday.

'There continues to be no credible, specific intelligence to suggest that there is an imminent threat to the homeland,' he said in response to questions about Mr Chertoff's remarks.

However, in the wake of the attack on Glasgow airport and the plot to use vehicle bombs in London last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has formed a team to focus on potential summertime threats.

The mixed messages underscore the US administration's ongoing struggle to communicate timely security warnings at a time of widespread political controversy over its past handling of terrorism-related intelligence matters.

WASHINGTON POST, ASSOCIATED PRESS