Washington, May 18: The White House overstated the inroads it has made in its efforts to wipe out the al-Qaeda terrorism network in Afghanistan, a prominent US senator said today. "Al-Qaeda never went out of business," Massachusetts senator John Kerry told CBS television's "Face the Nation" programme, adding that an al-Qaeda operative who survived the war in Afghanistan was likely responsible for last week's car bombing attack in Saudi Arabia.

"There is evidence that one of those people who escaped from Tora Bora was one of those who planned the Riyadh attack," Kerry said.

"I think that the triumphalism of this administration, the President's comments and others' about al-Qaeda on the run has really exceeded reality," he said.

"What's happened is we broke the beehive, but we didn't kill the bees and we certainly haven't killed the queen bee," Kerry added.

In counter-terrorism efforts, "we need to be stronger and smarter and tougher, and particularly we've got to have a more effective outreach in our foreign policy to build the cooperation necessary to truly wage a war on terror," he said.

Kerry is one of nine Democrats vying for his party's nomination for the 2004 presidential candidacy.

Bureau Report