WASHINGTON, Sept 17: CIA Director Porter Goss is considering congressional requests for the release of a classified agency report on the Sept 11, 2001, attacks that is said to criticize former senior CIA officials including ex-director George Tenet, the spy agency said on Saturday.

Mr Goss received separate requests for the document’s release from the Republican chairmen of the Senate and House of Representatives intelligence oversight committees, who joined Democrats in seeking a public version of the CIA report this month.

“When requests come in from Congress, of course they receive appropriate consideration,” said CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano, who declined further comment.

The decision of whether to release a public version of the document remains with Mr Goss, a former Republican congressman from Florida who was chairman of the House intelligence panel before becoming CIA director nearly a year ago.

The report is said by officials to present a critical picture of Tenet, former deputy director of operations James Pavitt and former CIA counterterrorism chief Cofer Black, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

Prepared by the CIA’s inspector general at the request of a joint congressional committee that reviewed the 2001 attacks, the document was sent to Congress last month.

The CIA received separate requests for its release from Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, who heads the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

A spokeswoman for Roberts was not immediately available for comment.

A congressional aide said a Sept. 6 letter to Goss from Hoekstra was co-signed by Rep. Jane Harman of California, ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, giving the request the panel’s full weight.

“It urged Porter Goss to review the IG report and to release a declassified version,” said the congressional aide, who requested anonymity because the CIA document remains classified.

—Reuters