Report: CIA had plan to kill al-Qaida

[July 13, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Wall Street Journal reports that the CIA program concealed from Congress was a secret plan to kill or capture al-Qaida operatives.

Former intelligence officials tell the Journal that the plan, which was ordered halted by agency Director Leon Panetta, was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential finding authorized by President George W. Bush.

Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper reported Monday that the CIA spent money on planning and maybe some training, but it never became fully operational. The plan was highly classified and the CIA has refused to comment on it.

The program remained so secret that no members of Congress were told about it, allegedly on orders of Vice President Dick Cheney.

Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California, the head of the intelligence committee, suggests the Bush administration broke the law by concealing the program from Congress.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.