WASHINGTON - The CIA official who led the hunt for Osama Bin Laden is being removed from his post, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
The head of the agency’s Counter­terrorism Center, who also directed drone campaigns which killed thousands, has been in the position for nine years, the newspaper, which withheld his name,  said. His move is part of a major restructuring under CIA director John Brennan, and ends a tenure which has seen the center become a paramilitary unit.
Known by his agency identity ‘Roger’, he presided over a campaign of espionage and armed drone strikes that have killed both terrorists and civilians, the report said. Many of Al Qaeda’s most influential leaders have been slain under his leadership, but the main threat has since shifted to the Islamic State Group. “He embodied akilling-centric approach to counter­terrorism that enraged many Muslims, eventhough he is a convert to Islam,” according to the Post.
“Because he remains undercover, The Washington Post has agreed towithhold his full name. He has been publicly identified in the past by both hisactual first name, Mike, as well as that of his CIA-created identity, Roger.”U.S. officials said thatRoger is expected to remain at the CIA in a new assignment which has yet to bedetermined and that he is being replaced by an agency veteran who has held aseries of high-level positions, including running the CIA’s operations inAfghanistan. His name is Chris.Current and former U.S.officials said that the switch does not appear to signal a change in directionfor the counter-terrorism campaign or a retreat from the CIA’s willingness to use lethal force. “Thenew individual is just as aggressive with counter­terrorism operations as theguy leaving,” a former senior U.S. intelligence official who worked closelywith both officers, was quoted as saying..In a Post profile written in 2012, he was described as chain-smoker and ‘not at all a team player’ by colleagues. He was also the basis for the character ‘The Wolf’ in the film Zero Dark Thirty and is said to have spent hours on the treadmill reading terrorism reports. But agency spokesman Dean Boyd paid tribute to the senior official as news of his departure surfaced.