WASHINGTON, March 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said Al-Qaeda still poses a "serious threat" of striking U.S. territory, according to an interview published Wednesday in a U.S. newspaper, while FBI Director Robert Mueller warned that the group was plotting more attacks, news agencies reported.

Mueller said in testimony to the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee that a huge U.S. intelligence operation, in conjunction with foreign agencies, had thwarted some operations following the September 11 terror attacks.

"The mere fact that there have been successes does not in any way, shape or form mean that we are confident that there will not be another attack," Mueller warned. "To the contrary, we believe that we are still targeted, that there are Al-Qaeda associated individuals around the world, some in the United States that are intent on committing terrorist acts within the country," said Mueller.

Ashcroft's remarks about the threat of Al-Qaeda were published in an interview with U.S. daily newspaper, USA Today on Wednesday. "They didn't train tens of thousands of people for a single day's assault. Take the words of Osama bin Laden himself: He didn't view [September 11] as the end of the effort. He viewed it as part of a sustained effort," Ashcroft told USA Today.

According to the attorney general, interviewed just before the six-month anniversary of the attacks, everyday successes buy just "one more day."

Ashcroft recommended that people in the United States not lower their guard, probably "for their lifetimes." He also reiterated that the public should be alert for new warnings. The paper said the attorney general described the federal government's efforts to prevent and punish terrorism as "an incremental struggle with no endgame in sight"

Ashcroft also said the United States had no tangible evidence that Bin Laden possessed a nuclear weapon, the article said, adding that what the government did have was "a clear understanding of their interest."

Central Intelligence Agency director George Tenet told the Senate in February that Bin Laden sought to procure a nuclear weapon or build a "dirty" bomb, which spreads radioactive material upon exploding.

The article also mentioned that authorities were no closer to finding out who was responsible for the anthrax attacks last fall. U.S.-based Time magazine reported this month that in mid-October, senior U.S. officials were informed that terrorists had allegedly obtained a 10-kiloton nuclear bomb and were planning to smuggle it into New York.

The intelligence report was based on information from a U.S. agent code-named "Dragonfire" and kept so secret that then-New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani said he was kept in the dark and top FBI officials were also out of the loop, according to the magazine. Counterterrorism investigators later concluded that the information was false, the report said.

Meanwhile, speaking at a news conference Tuesday, Ashcroft announced the creation of the Justice Department's National Security Coordination Council, whose purpose will be to "ensure a more seamless coordination of all functions of the department relating to national security, particularly our efforts to combat terrorism."

The Council's duties will be interwoven with the efforts and programs already in place at the Justice Department, Ashcroft said, complementing and building on those efforts while serving as a voice for the Department on national security and terrorism issues to other federal agencies.