Those officials said they were optimistic that they would eventually recruit informants from among the detainees.

It may also make it difficult for US spies to recruit local informants in future.

The police reportedly cultivated ties, recruiting informants and providing protection.

Today, the pursuit of phony bills often touches on diplomacy, intelligence operations and elusive efforts to recruit informants from other countries.

"These procedures have deterred and delayed vigorous efforts to recruit potentially useful informants," the report concluded.

"The director of central intelligence should issue a directive that the 1995 guidelines will no longer apply to recruiting terrorist informants," the report says.

Loosening the rules for recruiting confidential informants, another step announced yesterday, could easily lead to a resumption of questionable practices.

Early efforts by agents to recruit informants were thwarted due to widespread fear of the mob.

These cells then attempt to recruit local informants, especially collaborators who can inform them of the actions of the security forces.

The police, according to reports in the liberal press, recruit black informants in Inkatha-run worker hostels.