The White House has denied that the latest terror threat about an al Qaeda attack on financial centres in New York, New Jersey and Washington was based on information obtained three or four years ago and was timed to help US President George W Bush in his re-election bid.

"It's wrong and plain irresponsible to suggest that it was based on old information," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said yesterday.

"Anyone who looks at the detail and specificity of this information, some of which was updated this year, and the continuing stream of intelligence we have been receiving about al Qaeda's desire to attack us during this summer or fall time period, would not make such an irresponsible suggestion," he said.

"This is detailed, specific intelligence information that has recently been uncovered. Al Qaeda has a history of planning attacks well in advance and then updating those plans just before attacking," McClellan said. He said that the intelligence was detailed and chilling, even if some of the information appeared to be old.

Terror alert fails to affect normal life in US

Responding to Democratic criticism that the Administration was recycling old material in order to scare the public into voting for President Bush, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said that "it was essential" to publicise detailed surveillance documents and raise the terror alert even though the intelligence information dated as far back as 2001.

Because of the heightened security steps, "we have made it much more difficult for the terrorists to achieve their broad objectives," he told reporters in New York.

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