DAVENPORT, Iowa, Aug 4 (AFP) - Under fire over the timing of the latest terrorism warning, the White House countered Wednesday that some of the intelligence that led to the alert had only surfaced on Friday.
US President George W. Bush's administration has acknowledged that most of the information underpinning Sunday's warning was tied to al-Qaeda surveillance of potential targets at least three years ago, some of it updated in January.
"But there is another new stream of intelligence that came to our attention on Friday, as well," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters as Bush travelled here for a stop on his reelection campaign.
Pressed for details, McClellan replied: "I can't go further into it because it could compromise some ongoing operations at this point."
The new disclosure came as some Democrats, notably former presidential hopeful Howard Dean, suggested that the warning had been timed to dampen the positive impact of their national convention, which last week formally nominated Senator John Kerry to challenge Bush in the November 2 elections.
McClellan called such talk "irresponsible" and added "we hope that people won't try to politicize something as important and serious as this threat information."
Kerry, who is running neck and neck with Bush in most national polls, has distanced himself from Dean's comments.