John O. Brennan, the director of the C.I.A., has replaced the acting head of the agency's clandestine service, a woman who was at the center of the C.I.A.'s detention and interrogation program and played a central role in the 2005 decision to destroy interrogation videotapes, American officials said on Tuesday.
In deciding to replace the officer at the top of the C.I.A. branch responsible for agency espionage and covert action programs, Mr. Brennan could be sending a signal that he intends to shift the agency's focus after more than a decade of intense manhunting and paramilitary operations — as well as put distance between his tenure and the agency's controversial detention and interrogation program.
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