UPDATE 2-Obama receiving daily economic intel document-CIA

(Updates throughout with more information)

By Steve Holland

LANGLEY, Va. Feb 25 (Reuters) - CIA Director Leon Panetta said on Wednesday President Barack Obama wants to aggressively pursue Islamic militants, stressing there has been no let-up in the war despite change in the White House.

In a wide-ranging interview with a group of reporters, Panetta also said that as a result of the global recession, the intelligence community is now preparing a daily report on how the foreign policy of countries suffering economic instability might change.

He mentioned specifically China and Russia as well as countries in Europe and Latin America, for example Argentina, Ecuador and Venezuela.

The change in administrations from Republican President George W. Bush, who aggressively went after Islamic militants, to that of Democrat Obama has raised questions in Washington as to how persistent the new president would be in the struggle to prevent a repeat of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Panetta gave his clearest sign yet that nothing has changed in that effort.

"We are going to continue to pursue, we are going to continue to bring pressure, we are going to continue a very aggressive effort to go after terrorists, to go after (Osama) bin Laden, until we bring them to justice," Panetta said.

"That is a fundamental mission that we are committed to here," he said.

Panetta did not specifically mention the use of unmanned Predator drones to fire missiles at al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has drawn the ire of Pakistanis.

EFFECTIVE WEAPON

But he stressed that operations against militants would continue unabated, saying top officials from Obama on down believe they are probably "the most effective weapon we have to try to disrupt al Qaeda."

"I think the operational efforts that have been put in place have been successful at disrupting them, and in going after members of al Qaeda," he said.

The United States, frustrated by an intensifying Afghan insurgency and what it sees as Pakistan's reluctance to tackle the spillover, stepped up the missile attacks last year.

Amid a debate in Washington over whether Obama will scrap the Bush slogan "war on terror" to describe the U.S.-led effort to crush al Qaeda, Panetta did not use the phrase, but said:

"There's no question that this is a war ... There's no question in my mind that we are facing terrorists and we are facing a threat to this country that requires we do everything possible to protect our safety."

He expressed particular concern about Somalia and Yemen becoming safe havens for al Qaeda, saying Somalia was essentially a failed state.

Panetta said the daily economic intelligence report is being produced at the request of the Obama administration and is being distributed to key decision-makers. The first one was distributed on Wednesday, he said.

"Obviously, the purpose of that of that is to make sure we are not surprised by the implications of (the) worldwide economic crisis and what happens with countries throughout the world as a result of that," he said.

The world economic crisis has become the biggest near-term U.S. security concern, displacing terrorism, U.S. intelligence agencies told Congress this month.

The annual threat assessment produced by the Office of the Director of National intelligence said a quarter of countries around the globe had already experienced at least "low-level" political instability, such as government changes, linked to the economy.

Panetta, who was White House chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, left a fairly tranquil lifestyle in California to return to Washington for the arduous task of managing the CIA.

"I guess I'm a sucker for challenges," he said.

Asked how his has changed now, he chuckled and said: "I can't go anywhere without a security detail."

(Editing by David Wiessler)