That warning came prior to the arrests last week of five Muslim Americans in Pakistan on suspicion of links to terror groups and planning terror attacks. The men, believed to be college students from Virginia and Washington areas, were arrested during a raid on a house in Sargodha, a large city in Pakistan's prosperous eastern Punjab province, which of late has been plagued by rising militant violence despite its distance from the tribal regions where leaders of various Islamist terror groups are believed to be hiding.

Napolitano's warning reportedly was partly based on recent cases in the United States including those of Najibullah Zazi, and David C. Headley.

Zazi, 24, a Denver airport shuttle driver who was arrested in September, is accused of planning attacks on the New York subway system.

Headley, who was born in the United States but was raised in Pakistan and allegedly changed his name from Daood Gilani, was arrested in Chicago in October and since then has been accused of conspiring with members of Lashkar-e-Toiba, an extremist Islamic group in Pakistan, to plot attacks in Denmark and in India. He has denied the charges.

Napolitano warned that those sympathetic to al-Qaida and its fellow groups and those inspired by their ideology are present in the United States and would like to attack the homeland or plot overseas attacks.

Seen in the context of Napolitano's warnings, the Pakistani arrests of the five men assume greater significance. After their arrests, the FBI joined in questioning the suspects, some of whom were reportedly carrying American passports.

Pakistani investigators have alleged the five were planning to take part in jihad in Afghanistan.

A CNN report, quoting a Pakistani police interrogation report, said the five have deep interest in religion and that "they were of the opinion that a jihad must be waged against the infidels for the atrocities committed by them against Muslims around the world." The report said police also seized an external hard drive.

The New York Times quoted officials saying that they were arrested as they planned to travel to Pakistan's North Waziristan.

The tribal region is believed to be the hideouts of Taliban and al-Qaida leaders and currently the sanctuary of many of the militants who reportedly fled South Waziristan where the Pakistani military has been waging a counterinsurgency offensive since October.

Pakistani officials say part of their investigation is to determine if the five have any links to militant groups before repatriating them to the United States. U.S. diplomatic officials say they want to know if they want legal representation.

The Times report said a sixth man, the father of one of the men, had also been arrested since he allegedly knew the men were wanted by the FBI but did not report that information to Pakistani authorities.

The father, who has a computer business in Virginia, and his wife reportedly were in Sargodha at the time the five arrived there.

The five have since been transferred from Sargodha to Lahore, capital of Punjab province, where a court has asked the authorities to submit a report on their detention.

The arrests come at a time when some U.S. anti-terrorism officials and experts already see indications of growing radicalization among American Muslims, The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month.

Some experts told the newspaper that Islamic radicalization is still more prevalent in Europe with large Muslim immigrant communities unlike in the United States, where Muslims are wealthier, better educated and better integrated.

But others feel differently.

"I think young U.S. Muslims today are as prone to radicalization as Muslims in Europe," Zeyno Baran at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington told The LA Times.

The New York Times said the absence of any major attack in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001, has led to the thinking that American Muslims largely are not affected by radicalization. However, recent events are changing that thinking.

Bruce Hoffman at Georgetown University told The New York Times the recent cases only show it is "myopic" to believe "we could insulate ourselves from the currents affecting young Muslims everywhere else" such as America's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said more of these Muslims "are coming to believe that it's their duty to take up arms to defend their fellow Muslims."

The report said the recent cases also have had an impact on Muslim organizations in the United States, which vowed to campaign against extremist thinking.

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