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since Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:04:17.
By Alex Spillius in Washington
Law enforcement sources told ABC News that the 41-year-old officer, named as Muslim convert Andrew Warren, had been sent home in October. He could face charges as early as next month.
Investigators from the Justice Department allegedly found more than a dozen secretly recorded videotapes of the Mr Warren performing sex acts with other women. An official said one woman appeared to be in a "semi-conscious state".
Both the women who came forward to complain and made sworn statements are Muslim, and the case could spark a strong reaction in the Arab world. One of the women said she met the him at the bar in the American embassy before going to his residence, where she was drugged.
Algiers is one of the most sensitive posts in the agency, as it works closely with local intelligence services against a branch of al-Qaeda that has been responsible for major bombings, including an attack in the capital last August that killed 48 people.
The CIA refused to confirm that the investigation was taking place, but a spokesman said: "I can assure you the agency would take seriously, and follow up on, any allegations of impropriety." ABC's sources said the investigation had expanded to Egypt where the officer, who has not been named, served previously.
"This will be seen as the typical ugly American," said Bob Baer, a former CIA officer. "My question is how the CIA would not have picked up on this in their own regular reviews of officers overseas."
American troops have been the subject of sexual assault and rape cases in places like Japan, that helped turn public opinion against US military presence, but it is rare for a CIA officer to be implicated in such a case.
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'Ugly American'? Spy Boss Allegedly Drugged Muslim Women, Made Secret Sex Videos
Exclusive: CIA Station Chief in Algeria Accused of Rapes
By BRIAN ROSS, KATE McCARTHY, and ANGELA M. HILL
ABC News
The CIA's station chief at its sensitive post in Algeria is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly raping at least two Muslim women who claim he laced their drinks with a knock-out drug, U.S. law enforcement sources tell ABC News.
A U.S. government employee in Algeria allegedly drugged victims.
The suspect in the case is identified as Andrew Warren in an affidavit for a search warrant filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. by an investigator for the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service.
Officials say the 41-year old Warren, a convert to Islam, was ordered home by the U.S. Ambassador, David Pearce, in October after the women came forward with their rape allegations in September.
According to the affidavit, the two women "reported the allegations in this affidavit independently of each other."
The affidavit says the first victim says she was raped by Warren in Sept. 2007 after being invited to a party at Warren's residence by U.S. embassy employees.
She told a State Department investigator that after Warren prepared a mixed drink of cola and whiskey, she felt a "violent onset of nausea" and Warren said she should spend the night at his home.
When she woke up the next morning, according to the affidavit, "she was lying on a bed, completely nude, with no memory of how she had been undressed." She said she realized "she recently had engaged in sexual intercourse, though she had no memory of having intercourse."
According to the affidavit, a second alleged victim told a similar story, saying Warren met her at the U.S. embassy and invited her for a "tour of his home" where she said he prepared an apple martini for her "out of her sight."
The second victim said she suddenly felt faint and went to the bathroom where "V2 [victim 2] could see and hear, but she could not move," the affidavit says.
She told investigators Warren "was attempting to remove V2's her pants." The affidavit states, "Warren continued to undress V2, and told her she would feel better after a bath."
The alleged victim said she remembers being in Warren's bed and asking him to stop, but that "Warren made a statement to the effect of 'nobody stays in my expensive sheets with clothes on.'" She told investigators "as she slipped in and out of consciousness she had conscious images of Warren penetrating her vagina repeatedly with his penis."
The second victim told investigators she sent Warren a text message accusing him of abusing her and he replied, "I am sorry," the affidavit says.
According to the affidavit, when Warren was interviewed by Diplomatic Security investigators, he claimed he had "engaged in consensual sexual intercourse" and admitted there were photographs of the two women on his personal laptop. He would not consent to a search or seizure of the computer, leading investigators to seek the warrant.
According to the affidavit, a search of Warren's residence in Algiers turned up Valium and Xanax and a handbook on the investigation of sexual assaults.
The affidavit says toxicologists at the FBI laboratory say Xanax and Valium are among the drugs "commonly used to facilitate sexual assault."
"Drugs commonly referred to as date rape drugs are difficult to detect because the body rapidly metabolizes them," said former FBI agent Brad Garrett, an ABC News consultant. "Many times women are not aware they were even assaulted until the next day," he said.
The CIA refused to acknowledge the investigation or provide the name of the Algiers station chief, but the CIA Director of Public Affairs, Mark Mansfield, said, "I can assure you that the Agency would take seriously, and follow up on, any allegations of impropriety."
State Department Acting Spokesman Robert Wood issued a statement saying, "The U.S. takes very seriously any accusations of misconduct involving any U.S. personnel abroad. The individual is question has returned to Washington and the U.S. Government is looking into the matter."
U.S. officials were bracing for public reaction in the Muslim world, following the report of the allegation.
"It has the potential to be quite explosive if it's not handled well by the United States government," said Isobel Coleman, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who specializes in women's issues in the Middle East.
"This isn't the type of thing that's going to be easily pushed under the carpet," she said.
