The US government has lowered its terror threat level back to yellow or "elevated," 10 days after raising it to the second-highest level of orange or "high," a spokesman for the Department ofHomeland Security said.
The decision to raise the alert level followed deadlysuicide bombings in Morocco and Saudi Arabia and the belief ofthe US intelligence community that terrorists still planattacks against targets in the United States.
The spokesman said the decision to lower it to the middleof the five-point system was based on a number of factors,including a review of intelligence, assessment of the threatsand the conclusion by the US intelligence community that thenumber of indicators and warnings have decreased.
The spokesman also said the "heightened vulnerability"associated with the Memorial Day holiday on May 26 has passed.
The terror alert level has been at orange four times sincethe system was created last year.
The government also raised the terror alert to orange onMarch 17, on the eve of the war with Iraq when officials fearedpotential retaliation on the United States. It then was loweredto yellow one month later.