The CIA is attempting to recruit more spies by advertising on the internet, radio and television, and by holding meetings with American Muslims to make up a severe shortage of Arabic speakers.

In a bid to fulfil a pledge by George W. Bush, the former President, to expand the agency's clandestine arm, advertisements have been placed on websites such as Career Builder, and on the online versions of The Economist and The Washington Post.

Leon Panetta, the new CIA director, will meet Muslim groups in cities such as Detroit to spearhead personally the new drive to recruit Arabic speakers. He recently lamented the fact that only 13 per cent of CIA officers speak a foreign language, and just 22 per cent come from minorities.

"In order to accomplish our vital intelligence mission we want to market our employment opportunities to speakers of Arabic, Russian, Korean, Pashtu and Urdu," George Little, a CIA spokesman, told The Times.

"We want to emphasise to those communities that we welcome first-generation Americans to apply. They bring critical language skills and a knowledge of culture to support our intelligence mission."

A typical recruiting advertisement recently posted on the Chronicle of Higher Education's website is headlined "Central Intelligence Agency, National Clandestine Service Careers, Linguists. You Can Make a World of Difference. Are you up to the challenge of achieving our mission abroad?"

It adds: "This career track offers rewarding, fast-paced, and high-impact challenges." The CIA is also advertising on the social networking site Facebook and YouTube.

Earlier this month Scott White, third in command at the CIA, held meetings with Arab-American and Chaldean-American representatives in Detroit, which has heavily populated American Muslim suburbs. He told the groups that he would bring Mr Panetta to a future meeting.

Mr Little said that the CIA holds about 2,000 recruiting events a year, often at universities across the country. It also advertises for recruits on billboards at airports. Last year, the agency received about 120,000 applications. This year it is on course to receive at least 180,000.

The CIA is still recovering from morale problems and an exodus of senior officials during a series of bruising battles with the Bush White House about the intelligence used to justify the Iraq war.

As the US focuses its attention on Afghanistan and Pakistan, senior members of President Obama's Administration are conceding that their on-the-ground knowledge of Afghanistan in particular is minimal.

Dennis Blair, Mr Obama's Director of National Intelligence, told reporters last week that the US lacks a deep understanding of local power structures in Afghanistan and of the militants operating along that country's border with Pakistan.

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