CIA shuts down unit targeting bin Laden

CIA shuts down unit targeting bin Laden

Terrorist tracking team reassigned to other duties

Spy agency insists finding Al Qaeda leader still priority
Jul. 5, 2006. 01:00 AM
MARK MAZZETTI
NEW YORK TIMES


WASHINGTON—The CIA has closed down a secret unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials say.

The terrorist tracking unit, known inside the spy agency as "Alec station," was disbanded late last year and its analysts reassigned to other offices within the Central Intelligence Agency's Counterterrorist Center, the officials said Monday.

The decision is a milestone of sorts for the agency, which created the unit before bin Laden became a household name and bolstered its ranks after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, when U.S. President George W. Bush pledged to bring him to justice "dead or alive."

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

CIA officials said tracking bin Laden and his deputies remains a high priority, and that the decision to disband the unit is not a sign that the effort has slackened. Instead, the officials said, the realignment reflects a belief that the agency can better deal with high-level threats by focusing on regional trends rather than on specific organizations or individuals.

"The efforts to find Osama bin Laden are as strong as ever," said Jennifer Dyck, a CIA spokeswoman. "This is an agile agency, and the decision was made to ensure greater reach and focus" for counterterrorism efforts.

The CIA's decision to close the bin Laden unit was first reported Monday by National Public Radio.

The disclosure came as the wife of slain Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said her husband was sold out by fellow Al Qaeda leaders in exchange for a promise to ease up on...

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