CIA chief George Tenet identified the member as Robert Joseph in a closed-door hearing with lawmakers Wednesday, NBC said.

President George W. Bush has drawn fire over a line in his January State of the Union address to the nation alleging that the British had learned Saddam sought uranium in Africa. White House aides have publicly said he should not have said it.

Earlier, Senate Intelligence Committee member Dick Durbin, a Democrat who opposed the war, told ABC television Tenet told the panel during the five-hour grilling that a top Bush aide essentially forced his hand.

"We've been asking the wrong question. We've been asking why did George Tenet not stop the White House from misleading the American people. The more important question is, who is it in the White House who was hell-bent on misleading the American people and why are they still there?" said Durbin.

"There was this negotiation between the White House and the CIA about just how far you could go and be close to the truth."

Bush spokesman Scott McClellan reiterated that the allegation should not have appeared in the speech but quickly dismissed Durbin's account, saying: "It's nonsense, it's ridiculous."

"It's not surprising, coming from someone who was in a rather small minority in Congress that did not support the action that we took," he said, a reference to Durbin's opposition to a resolution last year authorizing the war.

ft-bur-ceh/gs

WAR.WIRE