CIA break-up plan draws criticism

Roberts said the CIA would not be abolished but "re-ordered"

A Republican proposal to break up the CIA as part of a general intelligence overhaul has been criticised by top Democrats and the agency's acting boss.

Senator Jay Rockefeller, the top Democrat on the intelligence committee, called the plan "a severe mistake".

Acting CIA chief John McLaughlin said such a move would be "a step backward".

The proposal was put forward by Senate intelligence committee chairman Pat Roberts, who also suggested creating a national intelligence tsar.

Mr Roberts aired his plan on Sunday, saying he was pushing for a National Security Protection Act to build on the recommendations of the commission on the 11 September attacks.

A proposal such as this would damage US national security rather than improve it Former CIA chief George Tenet

He said he had the backing of eight out of nine Republicans on the intelligence committee.

Without endorsing the plan, President George W Bush said he would carefully study the proposal.

'Mad rush'

"Disbanding and scattering the Central Intelligence Agency at such a crucial time would be a severe mistake," Senator Rockefeller said in a statement.

It's not a tablet written in stone Pat Roberts Should the CIA be broken up?

"It would evidently do away with the Central Intelligence Agency as we know it at a time when the agency is leading a global fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations," he added.

The statement also said that the proposal significantly departed from the 11 commission's recommendations.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, another Senate committee member, said she was concerned about "a wholesale dismantling of the CIA".

Meanwhile, Mr McLaughlin said in a statement he "would certainly speak out against such a move, which would, in my judgement, be a step backward".

Mr McLaughlin also assured CIA staff that the agency's integrity would be maintained.

Former CIA director George Tenet, who resigned last month, described the proposal as an "ill-conceived" scheme produced in a "mad rush to rearrange wiring diagrams in an attempt to be seen as doing something".

"A proposal such as this would damage US national security rather than improve it," Mr Tenet said.

Open to suggestions

On Sunday, Senator Roberts said he was acting early before electioneering "took over".

He said he feared the White House would not move aggressively enough to meet the demands of the 9/11 commission or family members of victims before the November presidential election.

"And then we'll fuss about it and then the campaign will take over and we won't get anything done," he told US broadcaster CBS.

Under the senator's proposed bill:

• a national intelligence director (NID) would be appointed with budgeting powers over the departments of treasury, energy, homeland security and defence intelligence

• the CIA's three main departments - science and technology, operations and intelligence - would be split into three separate agencies, each placed under an assistant NID

• the Pentagon would have to surrender control over three of its largest intelligence departments.

The bill builds on the 9/11 commission report published in July which called for the appointment of a powerful national intelligence director who could force the country's intelligence agencies to co-operate.

Acknowledging he had not consulted either Democrats or the Bush administration, Senator Roberts said he was open to suggestions.

"It's not a tablet written in stone," he said. "If anybody wants to make changes or if anybody that wants to lob a brick bat or two... we're perfectly ready."