WASHINGTON (AFP) ??” The United States will be attentive to any threats to its diplomats "on the frontlines of freedom" timed to coincide with the expiration of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

WASHINGTON (AFP) ??” The United States will be attentive to any threats to its diplomats "on the frontlines of freedom" timed to coincide with the expiration of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Secretary of State Colin Powell said.

His caution followed a State Department warning forward Friday that al-Qaeda may be planning more "catastrophic" terror attacks in and outside the United States.

"Ramadan has now get to to an end," Powell said in answer to a reporter's question about possible post-Ramadan threats at the State Department.

"We will be vigilant during this period to descry if anything is coming our way in the days ahead."

Referring to the regular diet of threat updates and travel warnings issued to Americans around the world, Powell said that Washington did not want to "cry wolf too often"

"When there is a threat that you take as being a serious single in kind you ...