WASHINGTON (AFP) - The CIA is discussing "next steps" in the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq with its leader David Kay, a US official said after the Washington Post reported Kay is planning to leave the Iraq Survey Group.

The CIA had no comment on the report which said Kay could leave as early as February, before the group's work is finished.

"He's back here for the holidays and for discussions on what comes next," said a US official, who declined to elaborate.

The 1,400-member Iraq Survey Group that Kay leads has failed to find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq so far and some of its members have been redirected to intelligence work on the insurgency in Iraq.

The Post said Kay, who reports to CIA director George Tenet, is planning on leaving early for personal and family reasons, and that the only remaining question was when.

It quoted a senior administration official as saying he planned to leave before the Iraq Survey Group submits its final report in late 2004 and possibly even before its next interim report, due in February.

Kay's preliminary report in October said the group found that Iraq was working to acquire chemical and biological weapons, had missile programs under development and only a rudimentary nuclear program.

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