Bush orders CIA and FBI to step up intelligence operation

President George Bush has ordered an expansion of the CIA and FBI's intelligence operations, a response to the independent investigation which criticised the US intelligence community for failing to detect and prevent the al-Qa'ida attacks of 11 September.

An executive order signed by the President called for the CIA to increase by 50 per cent the number of intelligence analysts and officers in its clandestine unit, which is responsible for the recruitment of foreign spies and covert operations overseas.

It also gave the FBI 90 days to find sufficient resources to develop an "intelligence cadre" of special agents, linguists and surveillance experts.

The order also demanded an increase in the number of research officers "to find new ways to bring science to bear in the war on terrorism, the proliferation of WMD and against new and emerging threats".

Mr Bush also called for a review to examine whether moving the CIA covert-action operations to Pentagon control would increase efficiency, and asked the CIA, the Pentagon, the State Department and the Justice Department to report back within 90 days.