Women in Secret Service scandal not tied to cartels, terrorism: report

Prostitutes walk a street of the old city, as heads of state met for the Americas Summit in Cartagena, April 14, 2012. Headlines from this weekend's gathering of more than 30 heads of state have focused on an embarrassing scandal after members of U.S. President Barack Obama's security detail were caught with prostitutes in historic Cartagena. Picture taken April 14.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secret Service personnel implicated in a prostitution scandal in Colombia paid 9 of the 12 women they were involved with and none of the women were found to be connected to terrorism or drug cartels, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

Late on Tuesday, Secret Service officials submitted 24 pages of written answers to congressional committees investigating last month's scandal which occurred ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to Cartagena, the newspaper reported.

The Post reported that congressional officials who read the responses said the agency considered the document "law enforcement sensitive" and is asking the committees not to release it publicly.

Secret Service investigators have interviewed 9 of the 12 women involved — who range in age from 20 to 39 — and plan to speak with the others as well, the paper said.

At least three congressional committees are investigating the scandal.

Also on Tuesday, the Homeland Security Department inspector general's office told Congress it would review the incident.

Eight agents have left the Secret Service since the scandal broke, one had his security clearance revoked and three others were cleared of wrongdoing

Separately, an officer investigating the possible involvement of a dozen U.S. troops in the incident has finished gathering evidence and is working on a report of his findings and recommendations, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

(Reporting By John Crawley and Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Paul Simao and Jackie Frank)

(This story was corrected in paragraphs one and four after the Washington Post changed the number of women paid and interviewed to nine )