16 November 2012 Last updated at 09:16 ET
David Petraeus testifies to Congress on Benghazi attack
Gen Petraeus became head of the CIA in September 2011 Former CIA chief Gen David Petraeus is testifying to Congress about a deadly attack on the US consulate in Libya.
He appeared at the House Intelligence Committee and was due to give evidence to the Senate Intelligence Committee shortly after, both in closed session.
The testimony on Benghazi, where four Americans died, comes a week after Gen Petraeus quit over an affair.
Republicans have criticised the White House over the Benghazi attack, saying the administration misled the public.
Gen Petraeus has said he left his post at the CIA only because of his extramarital affair with biographer Paula Broadwell, and not because of the CIA's handling of the attack.
US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens was among the four who died on the 11 September attack.
The retired four-star general, one of the most prominent US military figures of the post-9/11 years, travelled to Libya in September to investigate what happened in Benghazi.
His former mistress Paula Broadwell, 40, was found to have classified information, but both she and Gen Petraeus deny it came from him.
'Exploratory investigation'On Thursday, the CIA has launched an investigation into the conduct of its former chief.
A CIA spokesman said the inquiry by the agency's inspector general would see if there were any lessons to be learned from his conduct.
The CIA said in a statement on Thursday: "At the CIA we are constantly reviewing our performance. If there are lessons to be learned from this case we'll use them to improve.
"But we're not getting ahead of ourselves; an investigation is exploratory and doesn't presuppose any particular outcome."
Meanwhile, intelligence officials continued on Thursday to defend their handling of the investigation into Gen Petraeus' affair.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and acting CIA Director Michael Morell appeared before the House intelligence committee.
Dutch Ruppersberger, the panel's top Democrat, said after the hearing that he was satisfied with the FBI's investigation.
He said the agency was right not to have notified political leaders sooner, because of rules set up post-Watergate to prevent meddling in criminal investigations.
But another committee member, Representative Adam Schiff, also a Democrat, said "there's a lot of information we need ... with respect to the facts about the allegations against General Petraeus".
The scandal was discovered when FBI officials looked into harassing emails, allegedly from Mrs Broadwell, that were sent to a Florida socialite who is a family friend of the Petraeuses.
The inquiry has also ensnared the US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen.
He is under investigation for sending what officials describe as "flirtatious" emails to the Tampa hostess, Jill Kelley.
Adultery is illegal under military law, but Gen Allen denies wrongdoing.
Source : bbc[dot]co[dot]uk
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