'No credible threat' right now from Islamic State against US: Obama adviser

Amtrak police patrol Union Station on Nov 16, 2015 in Washington, DC.

PHOTO: AFP

NOV 19, 20157:26 AM

[WASHINGTON] US President Barack Obama's top adviser on counterterrorism said on Wednesday that US officials are vigilant against potential threats from Islamic State militants, but told cable channel MSNBC that there was "no credible threat" against the United States at the moment.

"We've got no credible threat reporting against Washington DC" or other parts of the United States, Lisa Monaco, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, said in the interview.

Ms Monaco said the US government conducts rigorous reviews of Syrian refugee applicants, noting that it has looked at some 20,000 Syrian refugees referred by the United Nations since fiscal year 2011. Of those refugees, the United States has interviewed some 7,000 people and accepted fewer than 2,000, Ms Monaco told MSNBC.

REUTERS