A day after President Obama apologized for the death of an American citizen during a Pakistan drone strike in January, the administration says it may form a so-called “fusion cell” that would oversee all communication with the families of hostages being held overseas.
The fusion cell would consist of officials from the FBI, Defense Department, State Department, intelligence community and elsewhere across the federal government, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Friday.
Mr. Obama on Thursday took the rare step of speaking publicly about January’s drone strike, which mistakenly killed American Warren Weinstein, an aid worker from Rockville, Maryland, and Italian Giovanni Lo Porto. The U.S. was unaware the two hostages were inside the al Qaeda compound targeted in the strike.
Moving forward, the White House concedes a new approach may be necessary to ensure families of hostages are kept better informed of the situation on the ground.
“One of the initial proposals is the creation of a fusion cell. This would be a working level, operationally focused group of federal employees that would enable a whole-of-government response to overseas hostage events,” Mr. Earnest said.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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