A U-S newspaper says the Central Intelligence Agency is considering clandestine missions aimed at killing specific individuals in connection with the September 11th terrorist attacks.
The Washington Post says the Bush administration is giving the C-I-A new authority to single out terrorists for death in the campaign against Osama bin Laden and his Afghanistan-based al-Qaida network.
The report says in 1998 then-President Bill Clinton first authorized covert lethal force against al-Qaida and that Mr. Bush has signed a more encompassing order.
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card refused to comment on the report, but says the United States will leave no stone unturned to seek out terrorists and prevent further attacks.
Executive orders signed by three presidents since 1976 were interpreted until recently as forbidding clandestine acts of targeted killings. The executive orders arose from the revelations in 1974 congressional hearings of botched C-I-A assassination attempts in the 1960's and 1970's.