- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two
more top officials at the CIA's clandestine unit are retiring in the latest
sign of upheaval in the agency under its new director Peter Goss, The New
York Times reported Thursday.
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- The two officials have headed operations in Europe and
the Far East and were in the highest level of the CIA's Directorate of
Operations, the powerful unit that recruits foreign spies and conducts
covert operations overseas, the newspaper reported.
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- The newspaper quoted an unnamed intelligence official
as saying that there would be no public announcement on the retirement
of the two chiefs and that neither could be identified because they were
working under cover.
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- A former intelligence official described the two as "very
senior guys" who were stepping down because they did not feel comfortable
with new management, The New York Times reported.
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- A spokesman for the CIA was not immediately available
for comment.
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- The clandestine unit's chief, Stephen Kappes, and his
deputy, Michael Sulick, resigned last week. Intelligence sources said the
two officials stepped down after clashing with Goss's chief of staff.
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- Goss took charge in September with a mandate to reform
the spy agency which has been under fire for intelligence failures related
to the Sept. 11 attacks and flawed prewar reports that Iraq had weapons
of mass destruction.
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- President Bush last week ordered the CIA director to
increase by 50 percent the number of intelligence analysts and officers
in the clandestine unit as part of a push to strengthen U.S. intelligence
operations.
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