Al-Qaida, especially in countries such as Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, poses the gravest threat to the U.S. homeland security, the U.S. State Department said in its annual review of terrorism.

Coming amid mounting concerns over the stability of Pakistan and efficacy of anti-terrorism operations with or without U.S. help in that country, the State Department report for 2009 also pinpointed Iran as a continuing source of terrorism-related activities outside its borders -- in the Middle East and beyond.

Perils of computer-related crime and terrorism, featured in a U.S.-led threat awareness campaign last year, dominated the report segment on growing connections between organized crime and cyberterrorism.

The report said available intelligence demonstrated that al-Qaida continued to recruit adherents worldwide for planned action against U.S. interests on American soil and elsewhere.

The report cited al-Qaida's developing connections in African and Asian countries and among Muslim communities in the West. An added worry was the terrorist group's successful recruitment of agents among communities normally without any apparent ethnic or religious links with the Middle East.

The economic downturn and its adverse impact on employment outlook for the minority communities in Europe also posed a major risk, the report said.

The report said al-Qaida's core terrorist presence in Pakistan made it the most formidable terrorist organization targeting the United States through agents and new recruits.

Its findings showed that al-Qaida suffered several significant setbacks in 2009 due to military operations aimed at eliminating militant strongholds, leadership losses and increased difficulty in raising money, training recruits and planning attacks outside of the region.

Also, the number of imams, clerics, and former militants speaking out against al-Qaida increased during the year, the report said. However, evidence suggested al-Qaida threat was more evenly distributed among its affiliates in 2009.

Al-Qaida's role in the Arabian Peninsular countries of Saudi Arabia and Yemen showed the threat had increased in range and scope.

Al-Qaida operatives were instrumental in attacks on Yemeni security services and attempted assassination of senior officers.

In Somalia, Al-Shabaab controlled significant tracts of territory and freely trained young men for terrorism acts.

During the year al-Qaida continued its efforts to encourage key regional affiliates and terrorist networks to pursue a global agenda, using both the Internet as a means to distribute propaganda and telecommunications infrastructure to plan attacks and coordinate movements. This will be an area of continued focus for the United States, said the report's authors.

The report said Iran continued its financial, material, and logistical support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist and militant groups throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. Syria also continued to provide safe-haven as well as political and other support to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, and a number of other designated Palestinian terrorist groups.