Cloak and dagger confab

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.

Old pros from America's secretive world of espionage and counterterrorism emerged temporarily from the shadows to convene for a three-day "Intelligence Summit" in a downtown hotel in St. Petersburg, Fla., last week.

Joining them were a handful of allies from friendly countries -- mostly from Israel -- to discuss what they see as the No. 1 threat facing Western democracies, the ever-increasing form of militant Islam and its indiscriminate use of terrorism.

The summit gathered a mixed bag of spooks, former spooks from various agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and a many others with acronyms typically comprehensible only by those in the business.

The object of the "Summit" says John Loftus, the president of the Intelligence Summit, is "to bring together professionals from this nonconformist world and help them compare notes, make new contacts and to learn how to cut through the bureaucracy that often weighs down such elite forces."

But the man who until recently was America's chief master spy -- John Negroponte -- and who was given by President George W. Bush the position of director of central intelligence, a prestigious job from where he oversaw the functions of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, sees things very differently. Mr. Negroponte tried to prevent federal agents from attending the Florida conference, saying the government would not reimburse those who made the trip, said Mr. Loftus.

When asked to comment, Mr. Negroponte's office at the State Department referred the issue to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. But a spokesman for the DNI chose not to comment.

Other participants who enjoy lucrative contracts with the U.S. government, such as some of the firms operating in Iraq, told United Press International they were warned the government would deny them future contracts if they participated in the Intelligence Summit, according to several participants.

And it appears the U.S. government may not be alone in trying to prevent its people from attending the Florida conference. Some participants told United Press International foreign agents had similar intent. Some participants told UPI they received threatening notes slipped under their hotel room doors.

One American who specializes in biological warfare has been paying particular attention to advances in the biowar arsenal being developed by a Middle Eastern country said she was followed on a trans-Atlantic flight by two agents from the country in question.