Washington, D.C.

CIA’s No. 2 official retires amid infighting

John McLaughlin, who took temporary command of the CIA for three months this year during a wave of criticism of the spy agency, is retiring amid internal conflicts.

In a statement Friday, McLaughlin, the CIA’s deputy director and 32-year agency veteran, called his departure a “purely personal decision” and said it was time to move on to other endeavors.

But former intelligence officials in touch with current agency personnel say there has been turmoil in recent weeks as new CIA Director Porter Goss tried to make changes and get settled in.

Goss, a Florida Republican who formerly chaired the House Intelligence Committee, brought four of his congressional aides with him to the CIA’s 7th floor executive offices shortly after he took over in September.

Mississippi

Army lieutenant faces hearing on rape charges

An Army lieutenant will face a hearing next week into allegations he raped a fellow soldier in Mississippi, military officials said Saturday.

Michael R. Hall of the 278th Regimental Combat Team will appear at an Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian court grand jury hearing, on Tuesday at Camp Shelby, Miss.

The hearing will consider charges of rape, conduct unbecoming an officer and adultery, Lt. Col. Richard Steele said.

The alleged victim, also a lieutenant, said she was raped in August by a fellow officer in the Tennessee-based combat team, which was training at Camp Shelby. The soldiers are among the New Jersey National Guard members who belong to the combat team.

Kentucky

Presbyterian church receives arson threats

The Presbyterian Church has stepped up security at its Louisville headquarters and advised its churches to be on alert after receiving a letter threatening arsons because of its policies in the Middle East.

The handwritten letter, received Wednesday at the church’s headquarters, threatened to set churches on fire while people were inside in retaliation for “anti-Israel and anti-Jewish attitudes,” Jerry L. Van Marter, director of the Presbyterian news service, said Saturday.

The letter had no return address, but it was postmarked from Queens, N.Y., Van Marter said. The letter gave a Tuesday deadline for the church to reverse its Middle East policies, he said.

Church officials are taking the threat seriously and have contacted law enforcement authorities in Kentucky and New York, Van Marter said.

Washington

Teenager charged with trying to aid militants

A teenager accused of planning to supply a Somalian terrorist group with night vision goggles and bulletproof vests foreshadowed the charges in his high school yearbook with a note that mentions Somalia in his “plans for world supremacy.”

Mark Robert Walker, 19, was arrested Nov. 6 in El Paso, Texas, and on Friday was charged with attempting or conspiring to contribute goods or services to a global terrorist organization.

Months earlier, Walker caused a stir when he left a cryptic note next to his senior portrait in the 2004 yearbook, writing that his “plans for world supremacy are in order. They entail taking over Somalia and working outward, but I should not divulge the exact details of my cunning strategy.”