WASHINGTON — As his agents chased new tips about possible terrorist attacks, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III vowed Friday that the bureau would watch ''very, very carefully'' to ensure that agents do not abuse their newfound powers to fight terrorism.
''We have to be tethered to the Constitution and to the statutes that enforce the privacy rights of our citizens,'' Mueller told a congressional panel.
Top Bush administration officials have characterized the FBI's broadened powers to track terrorist suspects--including monitoring public events and surfing the Internet without evidence of a crime--as an essential reform with little or no downside.
When the new FBI powers were announced last month by Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, Mueller described the changes as an important step to ''help remove unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles.''
But Mueller offered a more sobering assessment Friday when quizzed by several members of Congress, who were worried that unshackled agents could overstep their authority.
Although Mueller expressed his belief that the broadened powers granted the FBI were an important tool in fighting terrorism, he also noted that he was mindful of the FBI's history of civil rights abuses. During J. Edgar Hoover's 48-year tenure as director, the bureau routinely spied on and kept records on Communists, blacks, radicals and other controversial political figures.
"I think most people recognize the awesome power that you have as an FBI agent to harm people,'' Mueller said. ''It is critically important that as we obtain new authorities, that we have in place mechanisms to assure that they are not being abused.''
Although he said he believes that current training and internal safeguards are sufficient to guard against abuses, Mueller noted that there is a fine line between spying on a possible terrorist and infringing on the rights of an innocent citizen.
"We have to watch that very, very carefully,'' he said. "I want to make certain that that change does not trigger some activity that we would not want to see down the road.''
Mueller's assessment came as the FBI warned of another possible terrorist threat it has received--the latest in a long list of alerts that have rattled the public since the Sept. 11 hijackings.
In an alert issued Friday to law enforcement personnel nationwide, the FBI said it had received ''uncorroborated information'' from intelligence sources that terrorists might be looking to use fuel tanker trucks against U.S. targets, according to a law enforcement official.
