Levinson not a government employee when he disappeared in Iran: White House

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Levinson not a government employee when he disappeared in Iran: White House

WASHINGTON Fri Dec 13, 2013 2:00pm EST

(Reuters) - Retired Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared during a trip to an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf in March 2007, was not a government employee when he went missing, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Friday.

"He was not a U.S. government employee when he made that trip," said Carney, responding to questions about an Associated Press story that said Levinson was working for the Central Intelligence Agency when he disappeared.

"As there is an ongoing investigation into his disappearance, I'm not going to comment further on what he may or may not have been doing in Iran," Carney said, calling the story "highly irresponsible."

(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Vicki Allen)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/13/us-iran-usa-levinson-idUSBRE9BC0U320131213

[Wilms]

1. OK. So was he a contractor?