November 11, 1999
Web posted at: 10:37 a.m. EDT (1437 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Faced with increasing threats of terrorism and espionage, the FBI is set to announce a major restructuring of its national headquarters, administration sources tell CNN.

A new counterterrorism division will consolidate terrorism staff under a single assistant director. The action removes counterterrorism from the FBI's national security division, leaving officials there to expand their focus on counterintelligence matters and espionage.

In creating the new counterterrorism unit, the FBI is acknowledging that growth in terrorism concerns has strained the national security division and diluted focus on espionage, the sources said.

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Some FBI officials privately fear that the strain on national security resources may have led them not to focus quickly or intensely enough on the threat of Chinese espionage. Sources tell CNN the FBI is planning to expand its China counterintelligence program.

In addition, FBI Director Louis Freeh is creating a new investigative services division which will coordinate all FBI international operations and oversee major crisis management.

Such a unit becomes increasingly important as the FBI finds itself conducting more major investigations overseas, such as last year's U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa.

The new unit is also being formed to improve the FBI's ability to analyze volumes of information coming from field offices in the United States and operations around the world.

Correspondent Pierre Thomas contributed to this report.