NEW YORK, Aug 12: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is considering using Special Operations forces to capture and kill Al Qaeda leaders worldwide.

Mr Rumsfeld, according to a report in the New York Times on Monday, is described by aides as frustrated that military operations in and around Afghanistan have reached a plateau without the elimination of Al Qaeda.

Quoting Pentagon officials, the paper says proposals now being discussed by Mr Rumsfeld and senior military officers can ultimately lead Special Operations units to get more deeply involved in long-term covert operations in countries where the United States is not at open war and, in some cases, where the local government is not informed of their presence. This expansion of the military’s involvement in clandestine activities can be justified, Pentagon officials believe, by defining it as “preparation of the battlefield” in a campaign against terrorism that knows no boundaries.

However, the paper says, some officials outside the Pentagon express concerns that the proposals ultimately can lead the military into covert operations that have traditionally been conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency under tightly controlled legal conditions; these are set out by the president in secret “findings,” which are then closely monitored by Congress.

The discussion whether to give Special Operations forces missions to capture or kill individual Al Qaeda leaders may at some point conflict with the executive order prohibiting assassinations.

In past administrations, there was a clear effort to distinguish between the combat activities conducted by Special Operations forces and missions handled by the CIA. But the line has gradually blurred as the campaign against terrorism required greater cooperation among the United States law enforcement, intelligence and military officials, the Times said.

According to the paper, some senior advisers to Mr Rumsfeld say a legal finding allowing lethal force to be used as part of a mission against a terrorist leader may not be necessary to send Special Operations forces to hunt, capture or kill Al Qaeda leaders in any country, especially since the terror network attacked the United States on Sept 11, creating a state of armed conflict.

“We’re at war with Al Qaeda,” a senior adviser to Mr Rumsfeld told the paper. “If we find an enemy combatant, then we should be able to use military forces to take military action against them.”

But until now, the Times said, no formal plans have been written for Mr Rumsfeld, and the discussions remain far from any form that might be presented to President Bush for his approval.

A classified directive issued recently by the Pentagon to the Special Operations Command ordered it to come up with fresh thinking on how elite counter-terrorism units can be sent to “disrupt and destroy enemy assets,” according to three Pentagon and administration officials who have seen the document, the paper said.