The Case Of The Missing Agent

Asked about Levinson on Tuesday at his daily press briefing, Sean McCormack, the State Department's chief spokesman, said: "We still don't have what we would consider reliable information about his whereabouts, and that's why we're working so hard to try to get out of the Iranian government anything that they might know about where Mr. Levinson is."

McCormack also stressed a point that has been echoed by a number of former FBI colleagues interviewed by NEWSWEEK. Whatever Levinson was doing in Iran, he had not been dispatched there by the bureau or other U.S. government agencies. "He was there on private business," McCormack said. John Miller, an FBI spokesman, said Levinson had no current relationship with the bureau. "He has not been employed by the FBI for many years," Miller said. Levinson also had no known relationship with any U.S. intelligence agencies, said another U.S. government official, who requested anonymity talking about intelligence-related matters.

Throwing yet another wrinkle into the mystery, Salahuddin—the accused murderer—said in an another e-mail to NEWSWEEK this week that Levinson was not in the "jurisdiction" of Iran's intelligence chief (who overseas the official government Ministry of Intelligence and Security, or MOIS, which is distinct from the IGRC). He then added his own editorial comment: "Impeach Dubya and Dick [Cheney] and a lot of regional issues will take care of themselves."

Levinson, who lives in South Florida, was known as a specialist in Russian and Eastern European organized crime before he left the FBI more than a decade ago. More recently, he has been employed by Bishop International, a London-based private detective agency, on an inquiry into illicit cigarette smuggling that had been commissioned by British-American Tobacco.

In a statement to NEWSWEEK, Bishop's CEO, Jeff Katz, said that while Levinson had indeed worked for Bishop, he was not working for the firm when he embarked on his fateful trip to the Middle East in March. "Robert Levinson has been a valued consultant to Bishop International for some years," Katz said. "However, his work for Bishop International has concentrated on matters related to the former Soviet Union and Latin America. Mr. Levinson has not been commissioned by Bishop International for any work in the Middle East."

Brian Ross, chief investigative correspondent for ABC News, said Levinson also has collaborated with journalists over the years. "He is a very good friend who has worked with ABC News on a number of stories since he left the FBI," Ross told NEWSWEEK. Ross added that he and ABC were "unaware" of the Middle East trip during which Levinson disappeared.