Argentina Congress Vote on Bill Replacing Intelligence Agency

The lower house of Argentina's Congress is due to vote on a bill to scrap the country's intelligence agency

It replaces the old Intelligence Secretariat with a federal agency that will be accountable to Congress

The proposal was drafted last month by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, following the death of special prosecutor Alberto Nisman

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner accused a rogue agent of feeding misleading information to Alberto Nisman, who was investigating the government

The proposal, which has been voted by the senate, is expected to be approved

The new agency should be set up within 90 days of the bill being signed into law by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who has a majority in both houses

Argentina's Intelligence Secretariat (SI, also known by its previous name Side)

• Founded in 1946 by General Juan Peron as a civilian intelligence agency
• Mission was to provide both internal and foreign intelligence
• Evolved into a secret police force during Argentina's Dirty War (1974-1983)
• Used by military junta to track down opponents and spy on "subversives", including trade union and other left-wing activists
• Survived the transition to democracy in 1983
• Critics allege SI has since been used to monitor the activities of critical journalists, politicians, judges and prosecutors
• No official staffing figures available - but analysts believe it has grown in influence and size in the past decade
• Led since December 2014 by Oscar Parrilli following the resignation of Hector Icazuriaga after 11 years

 Note

Alberto Nisman(51)was found dead in his flat on January 18,2015 with a gunshot wound to his head hours before he was due to testify in Congress.
Alberto Nisman had been investigating the bombing of the Amia Jewish centre in the capital, Buenos Aires, in 1994 which left 85 people dead.
Alberto Nisman had accused President Fernandez and Foreign Minister Hector Timerman of involvement in a plot to cover up Iran's alleged role in the bombing.
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner rejected the allegations and said a former secret agent had mislead the prosecutor in order to discredit her government.