program cost `` millions , '' a U.S. official said . It is not known how much Blackwater was paid . The company -- now known as Xe -- did not return CNN 's calls seeking comment . `` The program ebbed and flowed . There were different phases to it . There may have been different folks involved , '' the source said . U.S. officials have previously acknowledged that Panetta canceled the entire program this year when he learned of its full scope . At the time of the cancellation , officials said , renewal of the program was being considered . At that point , it had been brought to the new CIA director 's attention . Panetta canceled the effort in part because Congress had not been notified about it , officials said . Also , some in the intelligence community were worried there could be a diplomatic disaster if contractors were caught performing such work in foreign countries . Former CIA Director Michael Hayden , who ran the agency from 2006 to 2009 , downplayed the program during a speaking engagement in Washington . `` This was not a very prominent thing during my time
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The Central Intelligence Agency hired the private security firm Blackwater USA in 2004 to work on a covert program aimed at targeting and potentially killing top al Qaeda leaders , according to a source familiar with the program . CIA Director Leon Panetta canceled the covert program this year when he learned of its full scope . The existence of the program , which began in 2001 , came to light earlier this year when CIA Director Leon Panetta canceled the effort , but it is only now that Blackwater 's involvement has become known . That development was first reported Thursday in The New York Times . The program was part of a broader effort inside the CIA to develop the capacity to conduct training , surveillance and possible covert operations overseas , according to the source . The program was outsourced to contractors to `` put some distance '' between the effort and the U.S. government . By mid-2006 , Blackwater 's involvement in the program had ended , according to a U.S. official . Other contractors were brought in for other parts of the program , another source said . The total