President Barack Obama secretly granted the CIA an exemption relaxing restrictions on drone strikes in Pakistan after enacting more stringent rules in 2013 to reduce the risk of civilian casualties, it was revealed today. According to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story Monday citing current and former government officials, Obama gave the spy agency a pass on providing proof that intended targets of drone strikes posed an imminent threat to the US. Had the CIA been subjected to the same stringent rules as other agencies, argues the article, the January drone strike that killed two hostages, one of them an American, could have been postponed or even prevented entirely. Innocent victims: Al Qaeda hostages Dr Warren Weinstein (left), a 73-year-old economic adviser from the US, and 39-year-old Italian aid worker Giovanni Lo Porto (right) were killed in a botched drone strike in January, which US officials say could have been postponed had it not been for a relaxed drone policy . President Obama, seen here April 23 addressing the death of the two captives, reportedly has granted CIA a waiver exempting the agency from providing proof of imminent threat to the US ahead of planned drone strikes . Without Obama's waiver, CIA operatives would have been forced to gather additional information and surveillance data on the al Qaeda-linked militants targeted in the January 15 strike, which may have delayed it, possibly sparing the lives of Dr Warren Weinstein, a 73-year-old economic adviser from the US, and 39-year-old Italian aid worker Giovanni Lo Porto. The CIA was seeking to destroy an al Qaeda compound in Pakistan when the two captives were killed, along with Ahmed Faruq, an American described as a leader of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. Al-Qaeda's English-language spokesman, a California rocker-turned jihadist, Adam Gadahn, died in a separate strike. Lo Porto disappeared in January 2012 in Pakistan, just a few days into his second stint in the country. A native of Sicily, Lo Porto previously worked in Croatia, the Central African Republic and Haiti. Weinstein was snatched after gunmen tricked their way into his home in Lahore on August 13, 2011 shortly before he was due to return home after seven years working in Pakistan. He later appeared in a video in which, under apparent coercion, he asked the United States to free Al-Qaeda prisoners. Weinstein's widow said in a statement that ‘we are devastated by this news and the knowledge that my husband will never safely return home.’ President Obama last week publicly apologized for the hostage deaths and took 'full responsibility' for all counter terrorism operations. Several investigations into the botched drone strike, including by the CIA and US Congress, are expected to take place in the coming months. Dr Weinstein, pictured with his wife, was abducted after gunmen tricked their way into his home in Lahore on August 13, 2011 shortly before he was due to return home after seven years working in Pakistan . Flowers and ribbons adorn a tree outside the Weinstein familyhouse in Rockville, Maryland April 23. Earlier, President Obama took full responsibility for the counterterror missions and offered his 'grief and condolences' Obama was quick to stress that 'we do believe that the operation did take out dangerous members of Al-Qaeda.' He also noted that January 15 strike was 'fully consistent with the guidelines under which we conduct counterterrorism efforts in the region. 'Since 9/11, our counterterrorism efforts have prevented terrorist attacks and saved innocent lives both here in America, and around the world,' the commander-in-chief said during a press conference Thursday. CIA drone operations are broadly divided into two distinct categories: 'signature strikes' and 'kill list' strikes, according to the Journal. The agency would go after specific targets if they are present on the kill list, but the president has to personally sign off on each such operation. Signature strikes, however, can be carried out against any suspected enemy combatants and are not subjected to Obama's approval. According to the paper, in 2013 the president endorsed a set of restrictions aimed at eliminating 'signature strikes' altogether in order to reduce the number of civilian deaths, but unnamed officials say many of the rules have yet to be implemented. Despite Obama's defense of his counterterrorism record, congressional leaders rapidly called for more oversight over the drone program., . Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain said drone strikes against suspected militants on foreign soil should be run by the US military and not the CIA. Pushing for reform: Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain said drone strikes against suspected militants on foreign soil should be run by the US military and not the CIA . ‘I think it was probably preventable, in that there was an obvious breakdown in intelligence. They didn't know that they were there,’ McCain said of the January drone strike. The Republican senator and 2008 failed presidential candidate predicted the incident will renew a debate within the Obama administration on how the drone program is run. However, there still appeared to be strong support in Congress for employing the unmanned drones against enemy targets, which has expanded during the Obama administration. Critics have long complained about civilians being killed in the air strikes. It is an ‘integral part of the conflict and a very essential one,’ McCain told CNN. McCain acknowledged ‘some bias’ on which federal agency should operate the drone program, given that shifting it to the Pentagon from the CIA would put it under his purview as chairman of the Senate committee overseeing the military. Nevertheless, McCain said the Pentagon had the expertise and, ‘I think it should be conducted and oversight and administered by the Department of Defense.’ Warren Weinstein is the seventh American to be killed by drones, the sixth who was hit inadvertently. In December American Luke Somers and South African Pierre Korkie were both killed when US Special Forces attempted to rescue them in Yemen. Obama said he ordered the raid because the 33-year-old Somers was believed to be in 'imminent danger.' The president condemned Somers' killing as a 'barbaric murder.' In 2013, Obama defended America's controversial drone attacks as legal, effective and a necessary linchpin in an evolving U.S. counterterrorism policy, saying, 'Simply put, these strikes save lives.' But also acknowledged the targeted strikes are no 'cure-all' and said he is haunted by the civilians unintentionally killed. Since taking office, Obama's counterterrorism strategy has increasingly relied on the use of strikes by unmanned spy drones, particularly in Pakistan and Yemen. The highly secretive program has faced criticism from congressional lawmakers who have questioned its scope and legality. Even though CIA drone strikes in Pakistan have steeply declined from a peak of around 128 in 2010, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which tracks each strike reported by the media- there have been seven drone strikes in Pakistan so far this year, the group said.
Obama put in place tougher rules on drone strikes in 2013 to cut down on civilian deaths, but CIA got an exemption . President must sign off on drone strikes targeting suspects on 'kill list,' but operations against other suspected militants don't require his approval . Obama took 'full responsibility' for January deaths of US hostage Dr Warren Weinstein and Italian aid worker Giovanni Lo Porto in drone strike . Senator John McCain on Sunday said drone strikes against militants on foreign soil should be run by the US military and not the CIA .