Ridge says al Qaeda planning attack

Terrorists' aim is to influence presidential vote, security chief says

language=JavaScript type=text/javascript> host = new String(location.hostname); host = host.toLowerCase(); if ( host.indexOf("edition.") != -1 ) { document.write('Thursday, July 8, 2004 Posted: 1736 GMT (0136 HKT)'); }else { document.write('Thursday, July 8, 2004 Posted: 1:36 PM EDT (1736 GMT)'); } //</SCRIPT> Thursday, July 8, 2004 Posted: 1:36 PM EDT (1736 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Al Qaeda plans a large-scale attack on the United States "in an effort to disrupt the democratic process" before November's elections, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Thursday.

Ridge cited "recent interdictions" for the new warning. He said U.S. officials have no precise knowledge of the time, place or method of attack, but said they are "actively working to gain that knowledge."

"We know they have the capability to succeed and they also hold the mistaken belief that their attacks will have an impact on America's resolve," Ridge said.

Ridge did not raise the national color-coded threat level beyond its current yellow, or elevated, level.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, speaking before the briefing, said the intelligence was "very non-specific" and there was "no reason for panic, no reason for paralysis."

"The reality is of increased risk here in the homeland over the next several weeks, the next several months," Frist said.

Accusations of scaremongering

Officials say there is no specific intelligence of a planned attack on either of the major political conventions. The four-day Democratic convention kicks off July 26 in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Republican National Convention begins August 30 in New York City.

Officials say Ridge thinks it is time to again raise public awareness.

Because there is no plan to raise the threat level and only general information, some Democrats privately have questioned whether the timing of the announcement is politically motivated.

A senior administration official said accusations of scaremongering are to be expected. But the official, who has read Ridge's prepared remarks, added, "This is one of those damned if you do and damned if you don'ts, and our default is 'do.' "

Alert level raised 5 times

A senior campaign adviser to Sen. John Kerry, President Bush's expected rival in November, said he is giving the White House the benefit of the doubt. He added, however, that the White House would have to explain its reasons for the new warnings.

The color-coded alert level has been raised five times to orange, or high, since the system's inception after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

The last time the alert level was raised was in December, after a taped threat from al Qaeda's No. 2 figure, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The alert level was dropped the following month.