The head of the FBI on Wednesday used a recently thwarted bomb plot to press Congress to extend the agency�s ability to spy on foreigners abroad without a warrant.

FBI Director Robert Mueller told a panel of House lawmakers that some of the surveillance provisions, which are set to expire at the end of the year, are �absolutely essential� to stopping terrorists from attacking the United States.

One of the particular provisions in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows U.S. officials to conduct electronic surveillance without a warrant on foreigners living abroad whom they suspect of being engaged in terrorist activities.

Earlier this week, the CIA thwarted a bomb plot hatched by al Qaeda in Yemen that was aimed at exploding a commercial airliner headed to the United States. On Tuesday, it was revealed that the would-be attacker was actually an undercover Saudi intelligence agent who turned the bomb over to the FBI for investigation.

It remains unclear what role the FBI�s use of electronic surveillance, as argued for by Mueller on Wednesday, played in stopping the bomb plot.

�We’ve seen over the last several days, particularly with regard to the IED that was recently recovered, that terrorism is and should be and continues to be our No. 1 priority and the No. 1 priority of a number of our intelligence agencies,� said Mueller in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

�The amendments that are up for passage again � reenactment � at the end of this year [are] absolutely essential in our efforts to address this threat.�

The panel�s chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), pressed for an extension of the FISA provisions set to expire at the end of 2012.

�This law gives the intelligence community the tools it needs to determine who terrorists communicate with, what they say and what they may be planning,� said Smith.

�FISA strikes a balance as it allows the FBI to acquire intelligence information about foreign terrorists abroad, while preserving and protecting the civil liberties of American citizens no matter where they are.�

(Source: The Hill)