Q&A: 'Al-Qaeda memo' release

President Bush was at his ranch in Texas for the briefing

Under pressure from the commission investigating the 11 September attacks, the White House has released a highly classified presidential briefing from a month before the hijackings.

The White House says the document contained no new information or intelligence that could be acted on, while President Bush's critics charge that it shows his administration ignored warnings of potential domestic terror strikes.

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Q: What is the document the White House released?

It is the President's Daily Briefing of 6 August 2001. In April 2004 testimony to the 9/11 commission, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice revealed that the briefing was entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US", drawing audible gasps from some onlookers.

President Bush received the briefing from a CIA official while on holiday at his ranch in Texas 36 days before the 9/11 attacks.

Q: What does it say?

The 17-sentence document says that:

• Osama Bin Laden had vowed to retaliate "in Washington" for US missile strikes on his base in Afghanistan in 1998;

• He "prepares operations years in advance and is not deterred by setbacks;

• "Al-Qaeda members - including some who are US citizens - have resided in or traveled to the US for years, and the group apparently maintains a support structure that could aid attacks";

• US intelligence agencies "have not been able to corroborate some of the more sensational threat reporting", including a 1998 warning that Bin Laden planned airline hijackings to gain the release of Islamic extremists held by the US.

Q: How sensitive is it?

Presidential Daily Briefings are among the most highly classified papers the US government produces - before Dr Rice announced it, even the title of the memo was a secret.

Identities of foreign intelligence sources were blacked out

The CIA has prepared briefings for the president six days a week since the 1960s. Until the White House released this one on 10 April, no sitting president had ever declassified a PDB before.

It was released in its entirety, with only the identity of foreign intelligence agencies that provided information to the US removed.

Q: Why did the White House release it?

Democratic Party members of the 9/11 commission challenged the administration to do so during Dr Rice's testimony.

Her appearance before the commission was itself something of a defeat for the White House, which originally said she would not testify in public - she had done so privately - because it would violate the president's executive privilege.

The White House's refusal to make her available prompted outcry across the United States, with commentators insisting that the president should waive executive privilege to aid the investigation of such an historic event.

When the 9/11 commission demanded the release of the PDB, the White House may have felt it was better to respond quickly and firmly than to lose another protracted and public struggle.

Q: Could it affect this year's presidential election?

It is not clear. President Bush is campaigning as a "war president", hoping that Americans will continue to trust him to protect them.

Polls taken shortly before the memo was released show that a majority of Americans approve of his handling of terrorism - but that support is falling.

A Newsweek poll in April suggested that 59% of Americans approved of his handling of terrorism, down from 70% earlier in the year.

A survey by the Pew Trust had similar results - with support dropping from 64% last September to 53% at the beginning of April.

With the economy still weak, security is one area where President Bush had been thought to have a clear advantage over his Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry.

If Americans become convinced the president is not the stronger candidate on security, it could harm his chances of re-election in November's vote.