US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday intelligence indicates that extremists linked to al Qaeda are planning attacks on the United States and other countries. "We have to keep the pressure on," Rumsfeld said. "We see enough intelligence on a regular basis, as you do, indicating that there's planning that's taking place and that their determination to attack our country and other countries, civilised countries, is unabated."

Rumsfeld provided no details on the intelligence in his comments to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

US intelligence chiefs told the committee Wednesday al Qaeda was intent on circumventing US defences and that it may be only a matter of time before it or another extremist group carries out an attack using weapons of mass destruction.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005