The CIA director, who later in the day met with senators behind closed doors, refused to say publicly what the CIA knows about bin Laden's whereabouts.
In outlining other global threats, Tenet warned of links between terrorists and other enemies of the United States who have been pursuing weapons of mass destruction - such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea, part of the "axis of evil" that Bush has warned about.
Never before, Tenet said, had the dangers to the United States "been more clear or more present."
He said Iraq's Saddam Hussein is determined to press ahead with weapons of mass destruction - including nuclear arms - and to resurrect the military force he amassed before the Persian Gulf war. "Let me be clear," Tenet said. "Saddam remains a threat."
He said Iraq had had contacts with al-Qaida, and that their mutual hatred of the United States and the Saudi royal family made their cooperation in planning attacks a possibility.
Tenet warned that Iran remained a serious peril because of its support for terrorism, such as the anti-Israel, anti-U.S. Hezbollah, and its pursuit of nuclear weapons and missiles. Meanwhile, he said, North Korea is developing weapons of mass destruction and exporting ballistic missiles, as well as expertise, to states such as Iran, Syria, Libya and Egypt.
Russia and China, though allies in the war on terror, are key suppliers of missiles and nuclear technology to enemies of the United States, the CIA director said.
