Argentina will dissolve its Intelligence Secretariat (SI) following the death of a leading prosecutor, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has said.

The Argentine president said a bill will be drafted to disband the intelligence body and the draft will be ratified by both chambers of the parliament.

"The plan is to dissolve the Intelligence Secretariat and create a Federal Intelligence Agency. Combating impunity has been a priority of my government," Kirchner said, adding that the plan is subject to approval from the Senate.

The bill, according to which the new director and the deputy will have to be approved by the Senate, is likely to be presented on 1 February during a special session.

The move has come amid spiralling speculation that rogue agents could be behind the death of state prosecutor Alberto Nisman, 51, who was found dead under suspicious circumstances just hours before he was set to make allegations against Kirchner in Congress.

Nisman was investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre which resulted in the death of 85 people. The prosecutor was found dead in his apartment in Buenos Aires with a bullet wound to his head, prompting initial suspicions of suicide.

He alleged that government authorities, including Kirchner, were plotting to cover up the Iranian suspects who are blamed for the attack.

"We must start to work on a project to reform the Argentine intelligence system, in order to clear up a system that has not served national interests," the president said in a televised address.

She said the structure of the intelligence body has not changed much since the era of military rule, which ended in 1983.

Meanwhile, government authorities have also assured the safety of journalists in the country after reporter Damian Pachter, who broke the news of Nisman's death, fled to Israel "in fear of his life."

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