US President George W Bush said today the al Qaeda network was still "plotting to kill" and Americans should be on the alert following the attacks in Saudi Arabia.
At a news conference, Mr Bush said he did not underestimate the threat posed by al Qaeda: "I always said this was going to be a long war."
Some Democratic candidates for president have said Mr Bush focused too much on Iraq at the expense of the threat posed by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, blamed for the Sept. 11th, 2001, attacks on Washington and New York.
Mr Bush said the United States and its allies were making progress in the war on terrorism. "Slowly but surely we're dismantling the al Qaeda operational network," he said. "But we've got a lot of work to do.
Al Qaeda is suspected in last week's suicide bombings at a compound for foreigners in Riyadh that killed at least 34 people, including eight Americans. In Casablanca, authorities are still investigating who was responsible for Friday's attacks in which 18 people were killed.
"I'm pleased with the progress we've made, but I will continue to warn the American people like I have for a long time that this is still a dangerous world we live in. And clearly the attacks in Saudi Arabia mean that we've got to be on alert here at home. We've got to be diligent, we've got to understand there's an al Qaeda group still actively plotting to kill," Mr Bush said.