The US' Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the threat of a major terror attack against the US was perhaps the equivalent of eight on a scale of one to ten.
"You might be at eight," Ridge said late Friday night in an interview on the ABC television program Nightline when pressed to quantify the threat. But he described the rating system as more of an art than a science.
Hours earlier, the government raised its terrorist threat index for only the second time, warning that newly acquired intelligence indicated a "high risk" of attacks by al-Qaeda guerrillas on US targets at home and abroad.
US analysts "have concluded without a doubt, and without any objection from any of their colleagues, that this is the most serious convergence of information we've had since Sept. 11, 2001," when about 3,000 people were killed in attacks by hijacked airliners, Ridge said.
US law-enforcement and public health officials said in announcements and private briefings they were fearful of chemical, biological or radiological weapons, including ricin, cyanide, nerve agents or "dirty bombs" that could spread radioactive debris over a wide area.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said recent intelligence suggested al-Qaeda might attack in the United States and abroad to mark the end of the haj, the annual pilgrimage by Muslims to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, that starts today.
He urged Americans to go about their usual business, but step up "readiness" for any emergency.
"We hope to reduce the level of the threat by our activities," he said.
Ashcroft said the assessments showed a greater likelihood of an attack by al-Qaeda -- the group Washington blames for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by hijacked airliners -- on lightly secured targets like apartment buildings and hotels.
Officials said the intelligence was coming from intercepts, detainees, foreign intelligence and other sources.
Newsweek, on its Web site, quoted unidentified law-enforcement sources as saying intelligence warned about the possibility of attacks on synagogues, Jewish community centers, Jewish hospitals and particularly hotels and resorts.
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