61.   But a Cabinet minister and a former intelligence official said there were significant defections in the ranks of the armed militants.

62.   But American intelligence officials have long feared that Iraq or other countries have somehow gotten hold of a supply.

63.   But he has Israeli citizenship, as do several other prominent Russians involved in crime, U.S. diplomats and intelligence officials said.

64.   But former intelligence officials and prosecutors said that there might be an overwhelming need to get Hanssen to cooperate.

65.   But intelligence officials and congressional overseers caution that some of those abilities will take years to build and cannot be created by money alone.

66.   But intelligence officials may fear a retaliatory strike from one of the terrorist groups the U.S. has targeted in recent months.

67.   But he and other intelligence officials said such reports come in constantly, and are often understood only in hindsight.

68.   But in the years since, U.S. intelligence officials have come to believe that he and the World Trade Center bombers had ties to Al Qaeda.

69.   But intelligence officials cautioned that most of the surveillance so far has been devoted to finding targets and assessing damage, not seeking evidence.

70.   But intelligence officials denied any embellishing.