Mr. Moustakas said the officer had been cautioned by C.I.A. lawyers that if he were publicly named, he would risk losing his classified status as an employee working under cover.

I might need my classified status again someday.

Admiral Jeremiah cited the classified status of the files, although the Pentagon frequently gives committees classified documents.

Romano Prodi's government has confirmed its classified status.

He said that while Mr. Nixon let the classified status of documents last 30 years, his order dealt only with documents from the date of the order in 1972.

Because of the program's classified status, and for propaganda value, announcements of the outcomes of missions were delayed until success was certain, and failures were sometimes kept secret.

Secret documents 25 years old or older will lose their classified status without so much as the stroke of a pen, unless agencies have sought exemptions on the ground that the material remains secret.

Semi-submarines do not have an international classified status.

The institutions supplying classified information or documents to the Ombudsman must inform the Ombudsman of their classified status.

On June 12, 2003, Mr. Libby was told by Mr. Cheney that Ms. Wilson worked in the C.I.A. counterproliferation division, most of whose employees work under covert or classified status.