Americans began to prepare yesterday for the possibility of a spectacular terrorist attack during the summer, after evidence emerged that al-Qaida may have spirited members into the US to disrupt the presidential election campaign. The attorney general, John Ashcroft, and the FBI director, Robert Mueller, held a news conference to publicise pictures of seven al-Qaida suspects they said could be in the country and ask the public to look out for them. “Credible intelligence from multiple sources indicates that al-Qaida plans to mount an attack on the US in the next few months,” Mr Ashcroft said, announcing the formation of a “2004 threat task force”. “This disturbing intelligence indicates al-Qaida’s specific intention to hit the US hard.” Full Story