VIENNA, Dec 16: There could theoretically be an international arrest warrant against US President George Bush if one of his CIA agents killed a terrorist suspect on Austrian territory, said an Austrian justice ministry spokesman on Monday.

If there were proof that a CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) man had killed someone, the agent “must be treated as a murder suspect” under Austrian law.

In practice, it was very difficult to prove that a secret service had given a licence to kill. But a US “death list” was incitement to murder, said the ministry expert on Austrian ORF radio.

If the crime were proven, it would even be possible to issue an international arrest warrant against Bush himself, said the expert, according to the teletext service of Austrian TV.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that Bush had authorized the CIA to track down and kill about two dozen terrorist leaders. Killing them would only be justified if capturing them was impractical, and injuries to civilians could be limited.

On the list were Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and other top leaders in the al-Qaeda terrorist network as well as terrorist groups linked to Al Qaeda.—dpa