Washington ? FBI counterintelligence agents are investigating whether several Pentagon officials leaked classified information to Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, according to a law enforcement official and other people familiar with the case.

Senior White House officials, including national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Stephen J. Hadley, her deputy, have been apprised that Chalabi is part of the investigation, according to a senior U.S. official. The inquiry is part of the larger counterintelligence probe that was disclosed last week, the scope of which is not yet clear.

Initially, news reports revealed that the FBI was investigating whether Lawrence A. Franklin — a mid-level analyst specializing in Middle East issues in the Pentagon office of Douglas J. Feith, defense undersecretary for policy — had passed a draft presidential directive on Iran to AIPAC, and whether the group had passed the information to Israel. AIPAC is an influential lobbying group with close ties to the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The FBI probe is actually much broader, according to senior U.S. officials, and has been under way for at least two years. Several sources familiar with the case say the probe now extends to other Pentagon personnel who have a particular interest in assisting both Israel and Chalabi, the former Iraqi dissident who was long a Pentagon favorite but who has fallen out of favor with the U.S. government.

The sources and others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is highly sensitive and involves classified information.

There appears to be at least two common threads in the multifaceted investigation. First, the FBI is investigating whether the same people passed highly classified information to two disparate allies: Chalabi and a pro-Israel lobbying group. And second, at least some of the intelligence in both instances included sensitive information about Iran.

The broader investigation is also looking into the movement of classified materials on U.S. intentions in Iraq and on the Arab-Israeli peace process, sources added.