Obama to visit CIA headquarters to thank intelligence community for helping to find Osama bin Laden

President Obama will visit CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., later this week to thank the intelligence community for its work in helping to find terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney announced on Wednesday.

The visit comes during a week when the president will focus on Mideast issues. He met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday and will address the nation on U.S. policy in the Middle East on Thursday.

On Friday, the same day Obama will visit the CIA, the president is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the stalled peace efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The president wants to thank the intelligence community “for the work they do every day to keep America safe and specifically for their excellent work in tracking down Osama bin Laden,” Carney told reporters on Air Force One, en route to New England.

Obama will give the commencement speech Wednesday at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut, then travel to two fundraisers in Boston.

Obama decided to visit the CIA to thank them shortly after the May 2 raid by U.S. Navy SEALs on the compound in Pakistan where Bin Laden was killed. The president has already personally thanked the SEAL unit.

michael.muskal@latimes.com

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