FBI gives lie detector tests to Senators

The FBI has asked US Senators to take lie detector tests as part of a probe into leaks of classified September 11 information, it emerged today.

Agents have already quizzed 37 members of the Senate and House intelligence committees to find the source of news stories that embarrassed the Bush administration and American security services.

The reports quoted Arabic communications making apparent references to an impending attack on the US which were intercepted by the National Security Agency on September 10 but not translated until September 12.

The FBI has now asked most of the committees’ members to take polygraph tests to determine who gave the information to the press, officials involved with the inquiry told the Washington Post.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said he had “grave concerns” about having one branch of government asking to polygraph employees of another branch.

Other committee members have refused to take the tests because they said they were unreliable.

The chairmen of the intelligences committees asked the FBI to conduct the inquiry into the leaks after they were criticised by the White House.

But many of its members are said to have been angered by the probe’s unprecedented scale, and that an agency that they oversee is investigating them.

FBI agents have also questioned 60 congressional staff members and officials at the CIA, the US Defence Department and the NSA.

The intercepts leaked to the press include the remarks “the match is about to begin” and “tomorrow is zero hour.”

The White House said the information was “alarmingly specific” and its release could compromise the war on terrorism.