The parent company of DirecTV, the home satellite service, has promised several federal agencies that it can address concerns about foreign ownership of sensitive U.S. communications systems if it wins approval of its proposed merger with Australian-controlled News Corp. ... But the merger also has drawn the scrutiny of the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and Justice Department divisions in addition to the antitrust department. The deal would bring DirecTV's five satellites and sophisticated communications system under the control of a company based outside the United States. Chief among the U.S. concerns is that a foreign-owned satellite system and communications system could be used for illegal surveillance on U.S. citizens and facilities, according to documents passed this week among Hughes, News Corp. and the federal government. "As the [FCC] is aware, the DOJ, FBI and DHS have taken the position that their ability to satisfy their obligations to protect the national security, to enforce the laws, and to preserve the safety of the public could be significantly impaired by transactions in which foreign entities will own or operate a part of the U.S. communications system, or in which foreign-located facilities will be used to provide domestic communications services to U.S. customers," read a letter filed at the FCC by the three law enforcement agencies last week. The Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States, a group made up of executive departments and representatives from the State, Defense, Treasury and Commerce departments, typically reviews transactions involving foreign ownership of businesses that serve the United States. In September, for instance, the committee approved the reorganization plan for Global Crossing, a telecommunications company being acquired out of bankruptcy by a Singapore-based firm. . http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A19987-2003Nov28?language=printer