Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, complained that there was "evidence" the federal agency was monitoring peace groups, including the Thomas Merton Center for Peace and Justice, a Roman Catholic organization from Pennsylvania, and the "Raging Grannies" group of elderly women activists.

"What possible business does the FBI have spying on law-abiding American citizens simply because they may oppose the war in Iraq?" Leahy, who cited internal FBI reports, asked FBI director Robert Mueller durind a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Mueller said that surveillance of the Thomas Merton Center was part of an investigation into identifying an individual and that FBI agents "were not concerned about the political dissent."

He also denied that the FBI had monitored Quakers or the Raging Grannies.