The US President, George W Bush, has said he presumed a Justice Department leak investigation was under way into who disclosed a secret eavesdropping operation by the US National Security Agency.
'My personal opinion is it was a shameful act for someone to disclose this very important program in a time of war,' Mr Bush told a White House news conference at which he was questioned repeatedly about the controversial operation, which was disclosed on Friday by The New York Times.
'There's a process that goes on inside the Justice Department about leaks. I presume that process is moving forward,' Mr Bush added.
Bush said merely discussing the program was helping enemies of the United States, who continue to plot attacks.
'You got to understand, and I hope the American people understand, there is still an enemy that would like to strike the United States of America and they are very dangerous,' Mr Bush said.
The NSA wiretap operation is thought to cover communications between US citizens inside the US and parties abroad when the government sees a connection to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
The disclosure of the covert domestic spying program has triggered concerns among both Democrats and Republicans, with many lawmakers questioning whether it violates the US Constitution.
Several lawmakers from both parties have backed a planned hearing on the issue by the Chairman of the US Senate's Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter.
Bush calls Iraq a strong ally
It follows a rare televised address from the Oval Office by Mr Bush last night.
In the address he described Iraq as a strong ally in the war against terror and a force for democracy in the Middle East.
Mr Bush said last week's elections were a landmark event in the constitutional democracy of the region, but acknowledged that the vote would not end violence in the country.
Mr Bush accepted that many Americans questioned the cost and direction of the war in Iraq but he said that both he and military commanders rejected the view that the war was lost.
He said pulling troops out of Iraq now would mean abandoning Iraqi friends and undermine trust in America.
