NSA Chief Offered to Quit, Obama Said No: Report

(Newser) – With the NSA reeling from Edward Snowden’s leaks, its leader offered to step down—but the White House quickly put the kibosh on that idea, an administration source tells the Wall Street Journal. Gen. Keith Alexander’s offer followed Snowden’s entrance into the spotlight in June, notes the Journal in a report on the agency’s woes as it tries to recalibrate after the “cataclysmic” revelations. “This is the hardest problem we’ve had to face in 62 years of existence,” says the head of an NSA team tasked with reacting to the Snowden leaks.

The agency is now trying to rein in some of its activities without so hobbling itself that it affects national security. With Alexander set to leave in the spring, a civilian could take his job for the first time. And the section of the Patriot Act allowing US phone-record collection expires in a year and a half; any renewed version of the law would have to take lawmakers’ privacy concerns into account. The White House may look to institute a means of comparing the political and diplomatic risks of a particular case of spying to its potential benefits, insiders tell the Journal. That could be a difficult process for intelligence teams, which “tend to be remarkably apolitical,” notes Sen. Susan Collins.

Politics from Newser

NSA Chief Offered to Quit, Obama Said No: Report

Zanzibar acid attack reward offered

9 August 2013
Last updated at 07:02 ET

Zanzibar police say a reward of 10m Tanzanian shillings (£3,971, $ 6,170) has been offered for information leading to the capture of attackers who threw acid at two UK women.

The teenagers from London, Kirstie Trup and Katie Gee, had acid thrown on their faces, chests and hands as they walked in Zanzibar City on Wednesday evening.

The island’s government is putting up the reward money.

Local police said it was considered a large amount of money on Zanzibar.

The two 18-year-olds are believed to have left Tanzania on a flight to the UK on Thursday night.

They were initially taken to Tanzania’s largest city Dar es Salaam for medical treatment.

‘Unprovoked attack’

Reporting from Stone Town, the old part of Zanzibar’s capital, the BBC’s Alastair Leithead said the attackers sped away after the incident, and police do not know why the women were targeted.

Officers said it is the first time foreigners on the island have been attacked in this way.

The women’s families have said they are “extremely upset” by the “completely unprovoked attack” on their daughters.

The victims were two weeks into a three-week trip, volunteering for the charity Art in Tanzania.

Before they left Tanzania, the country’s President Jakaya Kikwete visited the women at the Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam and promised that those responsible for the “shameful” attack would be found.

The BBC’s Tulanana Bohela, in Dar es Salaam, said Islam is the main religion on Zanzibar, and in more remote parts of the island, away from tourist beaches, there are signs asking foreigners to respect the local culture and cover up.

However, most islanders depend on tourism for their livelihoods and are happy to see tourists, so there is little antagonism towards them, she said.

Family statement, read by friend Doug Morris: “We are extremely upset and distressed at this unprovoked attack”

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Zanzibar acid attack reward offered