Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Justice Department opened a formal criminal investigation into the CIA's 2005 destruction of videotapes made during the interrogation of two al-Qaeda operatives.

A preliminary inquiry by the CIA's inspector general and the Justice Department's national security division found ``a basis for initiating a criminal investigation of this matter,'' Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said in a statement. He named a veteran prosecutor who has investigated FBI corruption in Boston to lead the investigation. Democrats in Congress, including Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, praised the move.

Mukasey ordered the preliminary inquiry two days after Central Intelligence Agency Director Michael Hayden disclosed Dec. 6 that the tapes had been destroyed.

The videotapes recorded the 2002 use of harsh interrogation techniques on two detainees, al-Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a suspected al-Qaeda leader behind the USS Cole bombing in 2000. The tapes' destruction occurred as the disclosure of such interrogation techniques as simulated drowning, or waterboarding, became a contentious political issue.

The inquiry is likely to examine allegations that the CIA obstructed the work of the commission that investigated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In an op-ed article published today by the New York Times, the panel's chairman and vice chairman accused the CIA of concealing the tapes' existence when the commission sought detailed information about interrogations of al-Qaeda operatives.

`We Call That Obstruction'

``Government officials decided not to inform a lawfully constituted body, created by Congress and the president, to investigate one of the greatest tragedies to confront this country,'' wrote former chairman Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, who served as vice chairman. ``We call that obstruction.''

Mukasey's decision to order a criminal investigation ``shows that many of us were right to be concerned with possible obstruction of justice and obstruction of Congress,'' Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.

Reid said he was ``encouraged'' that Mukasey ``appointed a career prosecutor from outside Justice Department headquarters to lead the investigation.''

Praise From Kennedy

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who had called for a special prosecutor to investigate the tapes' destruction, praised Mukasey's decision in a statement, calling it ``an important step towards a full and independent investigation.'' Kennedy had criticized the use of national- security division lawyers and the CIA's inspector general to conduct the preliminary inquiry.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation will assist the probe, Mukasey said.

CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said in a statement that the agency will ``cooperate fully with this investigation, as it has with others into this matter.'' He dismissed ``as simply wrong'' the charge of obstruction made by Kean and Hamilton because ``the CIA went to great lengths to meet the requests of the 9/11 Commission.''

John Helgerson, the CIA's inspector general, said in a separate statement that he would recuse himself from further involvement in the case because he was ``personally involved'' in preparing a report ``some years ago'' on the CIA's detention and interrogation of suspected terrorists.

The tapes' destruction has also triggered congressional investigations. The House Intelligence Committee last month subpoenaed Jose Rodriguez, the former head of the CIA's clandestine service, who was identified in some media reports as ordering the tapes destroyed. The panel has scheduled a Jan. 16 hearing.

`Initial Facts'

The House committee's chairman, Texas Democrat Silvestre Reyes, told reporters he is also interested in questioning John Rizzo, the CIA's acting general counsel.

Mukasey said a preliminary inquiry gathers ``initial facts'' to determine if they ``warrant a criminal investigation of a potential felony or misdemeanor violation.'' A criminal investigation empowers prosecutors to convene a grand jury to hear testimony in secret from witnesses.

The attorney general said he designated John Durham, a federal prosecutor in Connecticut, to lead the investigation because Chuck Rosenberg, the U.S. attorney in Alexandria, Virginia, whose district includes CIA headquarters, asked to be recused.

Durham is first assistant to Kevin O'Connor, the U.S. attorney in Connecticut. O'Connor, who also served as chief of staff to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was nominated last month to become associate attorney general.

Veteran Prosecutor

A veteran federal prosecutor, Durham supervised the prosecution of former Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland, who was sentenced to one year in prison for corruption, and the investigations of the mayors of Bridgeport and Waterbury.

In 1999, Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Durham to head a special task force to investigate allegations that FBI agents leaked confidential information to James ``Whitey'' Bulger, an alleged Boston gangster who was a bureau informant and is now a fugitive. The probe led to the 2002 conviction of retired FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr., who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

``The CIA is going to have its hands full with John Durham investigating,'' said Jeff Meyer, a former colleague in the U.S. attorney's office in New Haven. ``Plenty of corruption'' in Connecticut ``was ferreted out under John's supervision,'' said Meyer, who now teaches at Quinnipiac University Law School.

Durham was nicknamed ``Bull Durham'' because of his doggedness, yet is respected for ``never going over the edge'' and ``getting too absorbed in a particular case,'' Meyer said.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: January 2, 2008 18:25 EST