WASHINGTON, July 19 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said Monday he was still considering whom to name as new CIA chief and would not say whether he will back proposals to create a new Cabinet-level intelligence overseer.
Asked whether he had chosen who will lead the Central Intelligence Agency after George Tenet`s resignation, Bush said he was "still thinking about it" and was "taking a hard look" at leading contenders for the job.
The US president, facing election-year fire over flawed pre-war accusations that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, said he favored reforming US intelligence services but stopped short of endorsing proposals to create a new Cabinet-level post to oversee them.
He noted that the commissioners probing the September 11, 2001 attacks will release its final report this week, and said he shared their desire "to make sure that the president and the Congress gets the best possible intelligence."
"Some of the reforms I think are necessary: More human intelligence and the better ability to listen or to see things and better coordination amongst the variety of intelligence-gathering services," said Bush.
"We`ll look at all their recommendations and then I will comment upon that (the new post) having studied what they say," he said as he met with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos.