US: The US Justice Department is granting the FBI more leeway to conduct domestic counterterrorism surveillance following the agency's concession it had made mistakes in assessing clues before the September 11th attacks.
Thirty years after the US government imposed guidelines to curtail domestic spying, the Attorney General, Mr John Ashcroft, is easing rules that restrict surveillance at public gatherings, religious and political organisations and surfing the Internet.
Mr Ashcroft's new guidelines are part of an effort to change the FBI's focus from traditional crime-solving to fighting terrorism.
"The guidelines allow FBI field agents to do everything possible within the bounds of the Constitution and the law to keep Americans safe from future terrorist attacks," one Justice Department official said.
The changes allow FBI agents to do what any ordinary citizen or local police officer can do - monitor and watch events in his area. Under the previous guidelines, FBI agents had to offer evidence of criminal activity in order to get approval for such surveillance.
But civil liberties and rights groups warn the changes could result in a return to the days of domestic spying.
The attorney general's guidelines on surveillance were first imposed on the FBI in 1976, following disclosures that the bureau, under J. Edgar Hoover, had run a widespread domestic surveillance programme called Cointelpro. Critics said the FBI had overstepped its authority by using Cointelpro to spy on civil rights activists, opponents of the Vietnam War and others.
"Apparently Attorney General Ashcroft wants to get the FBI back in the business of spying on religious and political organisations," Ms Margaret Ratner, of the Centre for Constitutional Rights, said. "That alone would be unconstitutional but history suggests the FBI won't stop at passive information-gathering. We fear a return to the days of Cointelpro."
President Bush defended the changes as necessary reforms. "We intend to honour our Constitution and respect the freedoms that we hold so dear," he said. "Our most important job is to protect America. And the initiative that the attorney general will be outlining today will guarantee our Constitution."
The new guidelines come a day after the FBI Director, Mr Robert Mueller, announced changes to focus on fighting terrorism.