Former State Dept. official acknowledges CIA leak

WASHINGTON, Sep 8 (Reuters) Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage acknowledged being the original source in the leak of a CIA official's identity and expressed regrets and apologies in media interviews.

''It was a terrible error on my part,'' Armitage told The New York Times yesterday. ''There wasn't a day when I didn't feel like I had let down the president, the secretary of state, my colleagues, my family and the Wilsons. I value my ability to keep state secrets.

This was bad and I really felt badly about this.'' Armitage was the first person to discuss the identity of former CIA official Valerie Plame with reporters after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, criticized the Bush administration's Iraq policy in a New York Times opinion piece.

Knowingly disclosing the identity of a covert CIA agent is against the law, but no officials have been charged with leaking Plame's identity to the news media in 2003.

Former vice presidential aide Lewis ''Scooter'' Libby has been charged with lying to investigators as they sought to find out who leaked Plame's identity. Armitage is expected to be a witness at his perjury trial, according to a court motion by the defense.

Armitage said he wanted to disclose his role in the leak as soon as he realized he was the main source for a Robert Novak column which named Plame as a CIA intelligence officer, the Times reported.

But he told the newspaper he kept quiet at the request of Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor investigating the leak.

Armitage also confirmed he was the anonymous government official who told Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward about Plame's identity before other Bush administration officials mentioned her name to reporters, the newspaper reported.

In an interview on ''CBS Evening News,'' Armitage said that as soon as he realized what he'd done he told FBI investigators it was an inadvertent leak. He said he did not hire a lawyer.

''I felt so terrible about what I'd done I felt I deserved whatever was coming to me. And secondarily, I didn't need an attorney to tell me to tell the truth. I was already doing that,'' Armitage said.

Armitage expressed regrets that he had ''let down'' many people, including the Wilsons.

Asked whether he feels he owes the couple an apology, Armitage responded: ''I think I've just done it.'' REUTERS AD PM0751