Intel officials fear possible infiltrations

WASHINGTON – U.S. counterintelligence officials are increasingly concerned that al Qaeda sympathizers or operatives may have tried to get jobs at the CIA and other agencies in an effort to spy on U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

So far, about 40 Americans who sought posts at U.S. intelligence agencies have been red-flagged and turned away for possible ties to terrorist groups, the officials said. Several such applicants have been detected at the CIA.

“We think terrorist organizations have tried to insinuate people into our hiring pools,” said Barry Royden, a 39-year CIA veteran who is a counterintelligence instructor at the agency.

Three senior counterintelligence officials said they fear terrorist groups might be trying to place an “insider” in the United States’ fast-growing counterterrorism planning and operational networks as part of a long-term strategy to compromise U.S. intelligence efforts.

But the officials said it was unclear whether anyone had been assigned to infiltrate U.S. intelligence to commit espionage for a terrorist group. No one has been arrested, and no one has been linked to any new “sleeper cell” of suspected terrorists in the United States.

Royden’s remarks came at a conference over the weekend at Texas A&M University. The other officials were interviewed separately.

The officials said those under suspicion were filtered out during the application process for providing false information, failing lie-detector tests, applying to multiple spy services or flunking other parts of the application process.