State Dept. to Release Revised Terror Report

The State Department is prepared to announce a sharp increase last year in terrorism victims worldwide as it corrects findings that were used to boost one of President Bush's chief foreign policy claims -- success in countering terrorism.

A revised report to be released today shows a dramatic increase in both the number of deaths and other casualties, as well as a less dramatic boost in incidents, a senior State Department official said.

Still, the revised report shows that international cooperation and a new awareness of the terror threat are bringing positive results, the official said.

The initial report was issued in April. On June 10, the State Department acknowledged the findings were inaccurate. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell attributed the errors partly to a new data system and said there was no attempt to cook the figures to polish Bush's image.

When the report was issued, senior administration officials asserted it showed that Bush's campaign against terrorism was a success.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the report was based "on the facts as we had them at the time. The facts that we had were wrong."