No new evidence of al Qaeda threat despite report: U.S.

By JoAnne Allen - Wed May 28, 12:04 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - There is no evidence of a direct threat from al Qaeda or that the group has obtained weapons of mass destruction, U.S. intelligence officials said on Tuesday, despite reports that al Qaeda will release a new video urging jihadists to use such weapons to attack the West.

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the bureau sent out an alert to U.S. law enforcement agencies about the expected video. "We got information the tape is coming," he said. "We sent out an alert to law enforcement to let them know the tape was coming."

Kolko said the alert was a routine precaution sent to 1,800 U.S. law enforcement agencies.

ABC News reported on Tuesday evening that the video was expected in the next 24 hours.

However, IntelCenter, a U.S.-based terrorism monitoring firm, said the video being referred to was actually released at least as early as Monday and is entitled "Nuclear Jihad, The Ultimate Terror."