Washington ? FBI supervisors in the war on terror have acknowledged they lacked expertise, but Director Robert Mueller says he is unwilling to require such managers to have backgrounds in Arabic, the Middle East or international issues.

“Let me tell you that we want to develop that within the bureau, but making that an absolute requirement – if you do not have it you would be precluded from advancing in counterterrorism – no,” Mueller testified recently.

The subject came up in the case of an agent who complained that he had been passed over for promotion in favor of less-experienced colleagues.

Mueller described his own expertise in Middle Eastern terrorism as having been “relatively limited” when he took over the FBI a week before the Sept. 11 attacks.

AP reported Sunday that most of the men Mueller appointed to run the war on terror testified that, despite the FBI’s pledge to build national expertise in terrorism, they didn’t believe Middle East and terrorism experience had been important for choosing the agents they promoted.

Gary Bald, the bureau’s executive assistant director in charge of terrorism, testified he had to get his terrorism training on the job when he came to headquarters two years ago. When asked about his grasp of Middle Eastern culture and history, he replied: “I wish that I had it. It would be nice.”

When shown Bald’s statements, Mueller defended his selection by saying Bald had run the FBI’s Baltimore office, which had a terrorism program, and had also run the Washington sniper shootings investigation.

“Running the office gave him some exposure to terrorism,” Mueller answered. “Yes, I think absolutely it would give, contribute to his ability to handle counterterrorism.”

The testimony has been given in a lawsuit brought against the FBI by Agent Bassem Youssef, considered by some to be one of the FBI’s most accomplished pre-Sept. 11 terror-fighting agents. He claims he was passed over for top jobs in headquarters despite his expertise.

Mueller described his top anti-terror managers’ knowledge of dealing with foreign governments, Middle East history, international terrorism and al-Qaida this way: “Helpful, not essential.”