CIA's bin Laden unit closed

2006-07-04 22:15

New York - The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, The New York Times reported in its Tuesday edition.

The unit - known as Alec Station - was disbanded late last year and its analysts reassigned within the CIA counter-terrorist centre, officials told the paper.

Intelligence officials said the realignment reflects a view that al-Qaeda is no longer as hierarchical as it once was, as well as a growing concern about al-Qaeda-inspired groups that have begun carrying out attacks independent of bin Laden and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Agency officials said that tracking bin Laden and his deputies remained a high priority and that the decision to disband the unit was not a sign that the effort had slackened.

Instead, the officials said, it reflected a belief that the agency could deal better with high-level threats by focusing on regional trends rather than on specific organisations or individuals, the Times reported.

- AP