The US spy agency CIA has established cooperation centers in over 20 countries to hunt down terrorists since the 9/11 terror attacks, The Washington Post reported Friday.

These secret centers are financed mostly by the CIA and employ some of the best espionage technology the spy agency has to offer, including secure communications gear, computers linked to the CIA's central databases, and access to highly classified intercepts once shared only with America's closest allies, according to the report.

CIA agents and their foreign counterparts at the centers make daily decisions on when and how to apprehend suspects, whether to whisk them off to other countries for interrogation and detention, and how to disrupt al Qaeda's logistical and financial support.

The network of the secret centers reflects the centerpiece of the CIA's overseas anti-terror strategy in the aftermath of the 9/ 11 terror attacks -- persuading and empowering foreign security services to help.

Virtually every capture or killing of a suspected terrorist outside Iraq since the 9/11 attacks -- more than 3,000 so far -- was a result of the co-ops between the CIA and their foreign counterparts.

CIA officials said their goals have been changed from stealing secrets of other governments to seeking ways to join forces with countries it once reproached or ignored to undo a common enemy.

According to The Washington Post, the CIA has opened co-op centers in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and even has a multinational center in Paris which includes representatives from Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Australia.

Source: Xinhua