US administration admits wrong terror figures

The US State Department has acknowledged it was wrong in reporting that terrorism declined worldwide last year, a finding used to boost one of President George Bush’s chief foreign policy claims.

Instead, both the number of incidents and the toll in victims increased sharply, the department said.

Statements by senior administration officials claiming success were based “on the facts as we had them at the time. The facts that we had were wrong”, department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

The April report said attacks had declined last year to 190, down from 198 in 2002 and 346 in 2001.

The 2003 figure would have been the lowest level in 34 years and a 45% drop since 2001.

The department is now working to determine the correct figures.

Among the mistakes, Boucher said, was that only part of 2003 was taken into account.

One of Bush’s major foreign policy claims is that his post-September 11 strategy to counter terror was showing success.