Washington: In a report to the two Houses of Congress on the progress of the global war on terrorism, US President George W Bush has said the war against terrorism was likely to be a lengthy one and he could not say how long it would last.

"The United States' campaign against terrorism will be lengthy," says Bush, and adds elsewhere in the report, "It is not possible to know at this time either the duration of combat operations or the scope and duration of the deployment of US armed forces necessary to counter the terrorist threat to the United States."

Referring to the US military operations in Afghanistan, he said the US troops, with the assistance of coalition partners, had executed a "superb" campaign to eliminate the primary source of support to the terrorists.

"The heart of al-Qaida's training capability has been seriously degraded. What is left of both the Taleban and the al-Qaida fighters is being pursued actively and engaged by United States and coalition forces."

Bush said hundreds of al-Qaida and Taleban fighters had been detained - the US Naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba held 650 of such detainees.

The US continued efforts to protect its security interests elsewhere in the world, he said.

"We continue to work with the government of the Philippines to protect United States and Philippine citizens and to defeat international terrorism in the Philippines."

PTI