Al Qaeda is weaker, but still a threat: CIA

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WASHINGTON: Al Qaeda is weakened but remains a significant threat to the United States, the nation's top intelligence official told a congressional committee Tuesday.

CIA Director David Petraeus, the former military commander in Afghanistan who made his first congressional appearance as a civilian at the rare joint hearing by the intelligence committees of the House and Senate, said al Qaeda is far weaker today than it was 10 years ago, at the time of the 9/11 attacks.

Petraeus labeled Somalia "one of the world's most significant havens for terrorists," saying Al-Shabaab, the al Qaeda affiliate there, is large and well-financed and is training hundreds of foreign fighters, including some Americans.