AFTER ONLY A LITTLE MORE THAN A YEAR IN OFFICE, PORTER GOSS FRIDAY RESIGNED AS DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA), DPA REPORTED. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH SAID IN A WHITE HOUSE NEWS CONFERENCE THAT HE ACCEPTED THE RESIGNATION. NO REPLACEMENT HAS BEEN NAMED. GOSS, WHO WAS AN UNDERCOVER CIA AGENT, BECAME THE AGENCY'S DIRECTOR IN APRIL OF LAST YEAR. THE APPOINTMENT FOLLOWED A 16-YEAR CAREER IN THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WHERE HE CHAIRED THE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE FOR SEVERAL YEARS. "HE HONORS THE PROUD HISTORY OF THE CIA, AN ORGANIZATION THAT IS KNOWN FOR ITS SECRECY AND ACCOUNTABILITY," BUSH SAID. BUSH TOUTED HIS CLOSE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP TO GOSS AND THANKED HIM FOR HIS SERVICE, INTEGRITY AND "CANDID ADVICE." THE PRESIDENT ALSO PRAISED GOSS' FIVE-YEAR PLAN TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF CIA OPERATIVES AND ANALYSTS. THIS, BUSH SAID, "IS GOING TO HELP MAKE THIS COUNTRY A SAFER PLACE AND HELP US WIN THE WAR ON TERROR."
