Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The top U.S. spy official said an updated eavesdropping law didn't contribute to the capture of terrorist suspects in Germany, retracting statements he made earlier this week to a Senate committee.

``Information contributing to the recent arrests was not collected under authorities provided'' by legislation passed by Congress last month that gave spy agencies more leeway in obtaining intelligence, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell said in a written statement.

McConnell has been the prime Bush administration advocate for making the six-month law permanent. Some Democrats and civil libertarians have said the law infringes on Americans' privacy rights.

Under the law, spy agencies can intercept without a warrant e-mails and telephone calls of foreign-based terrorists routed through U.S. telephone switching facilities.

On Sept. 10, McConnell said the new law's flexibility allowed the U.S. to provide key intelligence to German authorities, leading to the arrests on Sept. 4 of three men suspected of planning bomb attacks on places in Germany frequented by Americans.

The ability to listen in on conversations among the accused plotters ``allowed us to see and understand all the connections'' they had with al-Qaeda, he told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Bliss in Washington jbliss@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 12, 2007 20:54 EDT