US: The Central Intelligence Agency is authorised to kill individuals described as "terrorist leaders" on a list approved by the White House, the New York Times reported yesterday.
Killing is authorised "if capture is impractical and civilian casualties can be minimised", senior military and intelligence officials told the newspaper.
President Bush has not waived the executive order banning assassinations, officials told the newspaper.
The presidential authority to kill terrorists defines operatives of al-Qaeda as enemy combatants and thus legitimate targets for lethal force.
"The previously undisclosed CIA list includes key al-Qaeda leaders like Osama bin Laden and his chief deputy, Ayman al Zawahiri, as well as other principal figures from al-Qaeda and affiliated terrorist groups," the newspaper reported.
It quoted one official as describing about 25 people listed as "the worst of the worst".
"President Bush has provided written legal authority to the CIA to hunt down and kill the terrorists without seeking further approval each time the agency is about to stage an operation.
"Some officials said the terrorist list was known as the 'high-value' target list," the Times said. Spokesmen for the White House and the CIA refused the newspaper's request for comments.
The reported list follows by more than a year a presidential finding after the September 11th attacks, providing the basic executive and legal authority for the CIA to kill or capture terrorist leaders. "The creation of the secret list is part of the expanded CIA effort to hunt and kill or capture al-Qaeda operatives far from traditional battlefields, in countries like Yemen," according to the Times.
Mr Bush is not legally required to approve names added to the list and the CIA is not required to obtain presidential approval for specific attacks, the newspaper reported. In November, the CIA killed an al-Qaeda leader in a remote region of Yemen.
A pilotless Predator aircraft operated by the agency fired a missile at a car in which Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, also known as Abu Ali, was riding.
Harethi and five other people, including a suspected al-Qaeda operative with US citizenship, were killed.
Intelligence officials told the Times the presidential finding authorising the agency to kill terrorists was not limited to those on the list. It is updated periodically as the CIA, in consultation with other agencies, adds new names.
Counterterrorism officials prefer to capture senior al-Qaeda leaders for interrogation, if possible, the newspaper reported. They regard killing as a last resort in cases in which the location of an al-Qaeda operative is known but capture would be too dangerous or logistically impossible.
- (Reuters)