House Intelligence Committee requests CIA documents on secret, now canceled al-Qaida hit teams

August 20th, 2009 AP source: CIA used outsiders to help hit al-QaidaWASHINGTON — The CIA hired private contractors at Blackwater USA in 2004 as part of a secret program to kill top-level members of al-Qaida, a person familiar with the program said Wednesday. The contracts were canceled several years ago, the person told The Associated Press.

August 20th, 2009 Report: CIA hired contractors to help hit al-QaidaWASHINGTON — The CIA hired private contractors at Blackwater USA in 2004 as part of a secret program to kill top-level members of al-Qaida, The New York Times reported. The newspaper, citing unidentified current and former government officials, said the CIA spent several million dollars on the program, with Blackwater executives helping with planning, training and surveillance.

August 1st, 2009 Lawmaker: UK may have recruited al-Qaida backersLONDON — A legislator has called for an investigation into whether British secret services may have mistakenly recruited people sympathetic to al-Qaida, a newspaper reported Saturday. Patrick Mercer, a Conservative member of Parliament, says six suspect people were recruited in a rush to beef up intelligence following the suicide bomb attacks in 2005, which killed 52 people in London.

July 22nd, 2009 Group tries to expose intelligence misdeedsWASHINGTON — A public interest group is trying to use the Freedom of Information Act to crack more than three decades of secrecy surrounding how the government deals with wrongdoing by intelligence agencies. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an open government advocacy group, sued in federal court Wednesday in San Francisco to force U.S.

July 17th, 2009 House panel to probe if CIA kept Congress in darkWASHINGTON — The House Intelligence Committee said Friday it will investigate whether the CIA broke the law by not informing Congress promptly about a secret program to deploy teams of killers to target al-Qaida leaders. Committee Chairman Rep.

July 17th, 2009 House Intel Committee to investigate CIA programWASHINGTON — The House Intelligence Committee said Friday it will investigate whether the CIA broke the law by not informing Congress promptly about a secret program to deploy teams of killers to target al-Qaida leaders. Committee Chairman Rep.

July 15th, 2009 AP sources: Tenet canceled secret CIA hit teamsWASHINGTON — As CIA director in 2004, George Tenet terminated a secret program to develop hit teams to kill al-Qaida leaders, but his successors resurrected the plan, according to former intelligence officials. Tenet ended the program because the agency could not work out its practical details, the officials told The Associated Press.

July 14th, 2009 AP sources: House lays groundwork for CIA probeWASHINGTON — The CIA spent at least $1 million on the secret intelligence program that aimed to develop hit squads to kill al-Qaida leaders but never went beyond the planning stage, a congressional official said Tuesday. The highly classified program, which never became operational but remained in existence until it was shut down by CIA Director Leon Panetta in June, is expected to trigger a congressional investigation, other officials said.

July 13th, 2009 Officials: CIA program targeted al-Qaida leadersWASHINGTON — A secret intelligence program canceled by CIA Director Leon Panetta in June was meant to find and then capture or kill al-Qaida leaders at close range rather than target them with air strikes that risked civilian casualties, government officials with knowledge of the operation said Monday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the program, said the spy agency's program never got off the ground.

July 13th, 2009 Report: CIA had plan to kill al-QaidaWASHINGTON — 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.

July 10th, 2009 CIA Director terminated secret programWASHINGTON — CIA Director Leon Panetta has terminated a "very serious" covert program the spy agency kept secret from Congress for eight years, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a House Intelligence subcommittee chairwoman, said Friday.

July 9th, 2009 House Dems likely to alter intel billWASHINGTON — Stymied by a White House veto threat, House Democrats say they will work with the Obama administration to soften a legislative provision that would broaden access to secret intelligence briefings. Democrats on the intelligence committee say that an intelligence authorization bill containing the controversial provision would likely pass the House intact but would be adjusted in negotiations with the White House and the Senate.

June 9th, 2009 CIA urges judge to keep detainee papers secretWASHINGTON — CIA Director Leon Panetta told a federal judge Monday that releasing documents about the agency's terror interrogations would gravely damage national security. Panetta sent a 24-page missive to New York federal judge Alvin Hellerstein, arguing that release of agency cables describing tough interrogation methods used on al-Qaida suspects would tell the enemy far too much about U.S.

April 23rd, 2009 Holder won't play 'hide and seek' with memosWASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress Thursday he won't play "hide and seek" with secret memos about harsh interrogations of terror suspects and their effectiveness. In testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, Holder said he's willing to release as much information as possible about the interrogations.

January 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Delhi Police has questioned three television journalists on suspicion that they may have taken some 'important documents' from a meeting of the National Students Union of India (NSUI). The meeting was held Jan 22 at the Constitution Club here, also attended by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.