Madrid - Spanish secret service chief Alberto Saiz announced his resignation Thursday following allegations that he had used public money for private purposes. Former army chief of staff Felix Sanz Roldan will succeed Saiz as the head of the National Intelligence Centre (CNI), according to Defence Ministry sources.
Saiz said he was resigning to avoid causing problems to the CNI and to Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's socialist government following a media campaign to tarnish his reputation.
During two appearances before the parliamentary defence commission, Saiz categorically denied reports by the daily El Mundo that he used public money to go diving and hunting in Mexico, Senegal, Mali and Morocco.
Saiz was seen as having problems asserting his leadership within the CNI, where some of the reforms he had introduced were being questioned. He had headed the intelligence service since 2004.
