"The President has deep concerns about the inappropriate disclosure of information," said Fleischer.

WASHINGTON, June 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Chairmen of the joint congressional committee taking testimony on September 11 intelligence failures asked Thursday, June 20, 2002, the Justice Department to investigate the leaks from their hearings that upset the White House.

Through his spokesman, Bush let his frustration be known, upon learning that anonymous congressional sources leaked to the press that the National Security Agency (NSA), charged with electronic and audio spying, had intercepted at least two messages a day before the September 11 attacks, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

"The president has deep concerns about the inappropriate disclosure of information that can compromise sources and methods and potentially interfere [with] and harm America's capacity to fight the war against terror," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

According to congressional sources, Lieutenant General Michael Hayden, head of the NSA, told a joint committee of Congress looking into the September 11 attacks that his agency had intercepted two encrypted messages that probably referred to the attacks.

The September 10 intercepts came from conversations in Arabic between individuals in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia that U.S. officials say were allegedly connected to Al-Qaeda. The intercepts, however, were not analyzed until September 12, the day after terrorist attacks on New York and Washington killed more than 3,000 people, CNN reported.

The messages read "Tomorrow is zero hour" and "The match is about to begin," according to the information leaked to the press. But the messages, written in Arabic, were not translated until after the attacks.

The NSA gathers millions of messages each day using satellites or by intercepting telephone conversations and computer messages, but some experts say there are simply not enough analysts to review the overwhelming amount of information that is gathered.

Senator Bob Graham and Representative Porter Goss who chair the committee asked the Justice Department, headed by Attorney General John Ashcroft, to investigate who, among congressmen and their staffs, leaked the information.

"The Justice Department is in receipt of a referral from the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees regarding recent leaks of national security information," said Justice Department spokeswoman Barbara Comstock in a statement.

"We appreciate the gravity of the national security concerns raised," she said.

In recent weeks, other members of the intelligence community have faced sharp criticism over their handling of data prior to September 11.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has come under fire for failing to heed agents' warnings regarding French national Zacarias Moussaoui, the first person charged in connection with the September 11 attacks, who had sought in his flight lessons merely to learn to steer a plane but not to take off or land.

And the Central Intelligence Agency was later accused of not sharing information on two of the September 11 hijackers with the FBI prior to the attacks.

During a visit to the NSA's Maryland headquarters in June, Bush admitted that the FBI and the CIA had failed to communicate effectively prior to the attacks, but he thanked NSA personnel for their contribution to keeping the United States safe and stressed that the attacks, which killed more than 3,000 people, could not have been prevented.

The FBI remains on alert, particularly after its warning Wednesday that terrorist attacks may be planned for the July 4 Independence Day holiday.

"[Headquarters] has sent an electronic communication to its 56 field offices on uncorroborated information of possible terrorist attacks within the U.S.," FBI spokeswoman Debbie Wierman said, emphasizing that this was not an FBI warning but a communication with its agents on the ground.

Rumors have been circulating in Washington about a possible attack on the city's subway system, which is used by thousands of tourists who come to the U.S. capital each year to enjoy fireworks and other Independence Day festivities.

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