THE US: A second senior CIA official announced his resignation yesterday, leading to increased calls for reform of the troubled spy agency which is taking the heat for major intelligence failures over Iraq. Conor O'Clery reports from New York
Just hours after Mr George Tenet's surprise resignation as director on Thursday, the CIA announced that the deputy director for operations, Mr James Pavitt, would also step down.
The agency denied that the departure of Mr Pavitt (58), who was in charge of the CIA's human spies, was related to Mr Tenet's resignation. However, coming so close on the heels of his boss's decision, it has added to the perception of an agency in crisis.
Mr Pavitt served as operations director at the CIA for five years and also worked in the national security council of president George Bush snr.
There was widespread speculation in the US media and on Capitol Hill yesterday that Mr Tenet's departure was linked to the fact that he was increasingly seen as a political liability for the current President Bush.
"I don't think there are any tears over there," said Republican Senator Richard Shelby, referring to the brief statements of regret issued by President George Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney.
On Thursday Mr Bush announced to television cameras just before leaving for Italy that he had accepted Mr Tenet's resignation as being for "personal reasons" and he was sorry to see him go.
A permanent replacement is unlikely before the November election as the nominee would have to submit to a congressional hearing that could focus on the use of flawed intelligence to justify invading Iraq.
A classified Senate Intelligence Committee report that is said to severely criticise the CIA for its miscalculations on weapons of mass destruction and other issues may have precipitated Mr Tenet's resignation.
Mr Tenet was reported to have told friends in the Senate that he wanted to leave before it came out later this month.
The committee chairman, Republican Senator Pat Roberts, had indicated to the administration in the past two weeks that the report's conclusions would raise questions about who should be held accountable, an official told the New York Times.
The CIA director is also expected to face sharp criticism in a report being prepared by the independent 9/11 commission. A third report from a CIA weapons-hunter in Iraq, Mr Charles Duelfer, could also embarrass Mr Tenet, who until recently insisted that unconventional weapons could still be hidden in Iraq.
The Democratic presidential candidate, Mr John Kerry, said: "We must reshape our intelligence community for the 21st century."