WASHINGTON, Nov 4: A secret CIA office in the World Trade Center complex that spied on UN diplomats and handled anti- terrorism cases was destroyed in the September 11 terror attack, the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing government officials.

The Central Intelligence Agency office, which operated behind a false front, was located at 7 World Trade Center, one of the smaller office towers destroyed when the twin towers collapsed after being hit by hijacked passenger planes, officials told the Times.

All agency employees were evacuated safely, the officials said.

A CIA spokesman, however, refused to comment. “We never confirm the location of CIA offices other than our Virginia headquarters,” the spokesman said.

The office also recruited United Nations diplomats, and debriefed friendly US business executives and others after returning from overseas, according to the Times.

Agents at the office also worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on counter-terrorism efforts in the New York area, the Times reported.

Immediately following the attack the CIA sent a special team to scour the WTC rubble searching for any documents and reports from their office that may have survived the building collapse, officials told the Times.—AFP