US grand jury meets over CIA leak

Charges - if brought - may be announced this week

The US grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA agent's identity held talks on Wednesday with a prosecutor on whether to bring charges.

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and the jury discussed the outcome of his two-year inquiry.

At issue is whether White House staff deliberately leaked the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame after her husband attacked President Bush over Iraq.

An announcement on any charges was thought possible on Thursday or Friday.

The FBI has also conducted interviews, apparently aimed at deciding if there is a case against White House staff.

GRAND JURY Decides if an alleged crime is worthy of a trial Meets in secret Typically has 25 members Reports to a judge, who can extend its term Used in some US states and to try certain major crimes

Mr Fitzgerald has the power to deal a crushing blow to President George W Bush by linking two of his most senior advisers to allegations of criminal misconduct, accusations which would force them to resign, correspondents say.

Lawyers for Karl Rove, the president's closest political aide, and Lewis Libby, the vice-president's chief-of-staff, say their clients have done nothing wrong.

The inquiry has focused on whether there was an illegal effort to undermine the credibility of former US ambassador Joe Wilson by revealing the identity of his CIA-agent wife.

Mr Wilson had published a newspaper column accusing the Bush administration of twisting intelligence material to help justify the war on Iraq.

Karl Rove is the president's closest political aide

According to a New York Times report, Mr Libby had first learned of the CIA officer in a conversation with Vice-President Dick Cheney weeks before her identity became public in a newspaper column.

The White House refused to answer questions about Mr Cheney's alleged role in the case.

Neighbours of Ms Plame's in Washington have told reporters that only this week FBI agents were asking questions about whether the neighbours knew of her work before it was leaked to the press.

They said they did not.

This line of questioning suggests that the special prosecutor is trying to make a firm case that a serious crime was committed, not merely that officials were unco-operative during his investigation.