Exclusive: CIA Station Chief in Algeria Accused of Rapes

[jefferson_dem]

Source: ABC News

Exclusive: CIA Station Chief in Algeria Accused of Rapes
"Ugly American"? Spy Boss Allegedly Drugged Muslim Women, Made Secret Sex Videos
By BRIAN ROSS, KATE McCARTHY, and ANGELA M. HILL

January 28, 2009—

The CIA's station chief at its sensitive post in Algeria is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly raping at least two Muslim women who claim he laced their drinks with a knock-out drug, U.S. law enforcement sources tell ABC News.

Officials say the 41-year old CIA officer, a convert to Islam, was ordered home by the U.S. Ambassador, David Pearce, in October after the women came forward with their rape allegations in September.

The discovery of more than a dozen videotapes showing the CIA officer engaged in sex acts with other women has led the Justice Department to broaden its investigation to include at least one other Arab country, Egypt, where the CIA officer had been posted earlier in his career, according to law enforcement officials.

The U.S. State Department referred questions to the Department of Justice, which declined to comment.

"It has the potential to be quite explosive if it's not handled well by the United States government," said Isobel Coleman, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who specializes in women's issues in the Middle East.

"This isn't the type of thing that's going to be easily pushed under the carpet," she said.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=6750266&page=1

[Aviation Pro]

1. Great.....

...I wonder how many other rogue operators are out in the field.

Let the purging begin.

[INDIA]

2. Ugh...not a good look for us. Especially after Obama's interview on Al-Arabiya. nt

[Ian David]

3. What are Algeria and Egypt going to do to the women he raped?

I hope we throw the book at this guy.

[nichomachus]

4. But, at least he isn't gay

then he'd be in big big trouble

[McCamy Taylor]

5. To the Muslim world this will be WORSE than Gitmo. Did Bush Co. save this for Obama?

[Zhade]

6. Well, it IS the CIA -- they specialize in criminal brutality.

: (

[struggle4progress]

7. CIA Station Chief In Algeria Accused In Two Sex Assaults

Official, 41, Was Ordered Back to U.S.

The CIA's top officer in Algeria has been returned to Washington amid allegations that he drugged and raped two women at his Algiers residence, an accusation that presents the Obama administration's new intelligence team with an unexpected legal and diplomatic crisis even before it officially takes office.

The 41-year-old Algiers station chief was ordered home by the State Department after a months-long investigation of alleged sexual assaults in September 2007 and February of last year, U.S. officials confirmed yesterday. The two women involved in the incidents told U.S. diplomats that they became unconscious after receiving what they believed were knockout drugs served to them in drinks.

The alleged assaults, if confirmed, are viewed as particularly serious because they could potentially damage diplomatic relations with Algeria, a U.S. ally, and undermine U.S. efforts to improve its image in the Muslim world, former diplomats and foreign policy experts said.

The CIA and State Department declined to comment on the alleged assaults, which were first described in an Internet report yesterday by ABC News. State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood confirmed that an investigation was ongoing and that the officer involved had been recalled to Washington ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/28/AR2009012803436.html?hpid=moreheadlines