Napolitano Says Al-Qaeda-Style Terrorists Are in U.S.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said terrorists with al-Qaeda leanings are in the U.S. and that the threat of attack “is always with us.”

“It is fair to say there are individuals in the United States who ascribe to al-Qaeda-type beliefs,” Napolitano said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today. “And so it makes information-sharing, it makes effective law enforcement and it makes the shared responsibility of law enforcement ever so important.”

Information-sharing between federal, state and local law- enforcement agencies is “much improved” since the Sept. 11 attacks, she said.

In September, U.S. authorities indicted Najibullah Zazi, 24, an Afghan immigrant and former Denver airport shuttle-van driver, on federal terrorism conspiracy charges. They found bomb-making instructions on a laptop computer in his rental car.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the case had connections to al-Qaeda, the terrorist group that attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.

Napolitano said she met in New York today with leaders in financial security in order to discuss ways to protect the nation’s financial system from cyber-terrorism or other attacks.

“The financial institutions of this country are part of our bedrock infrastructure,” she said. “They need to be protected. We need to be able to protect them.”