The CIA thrillers “Argo” and “Zero Dark Thirty” have won top screenplay* honors from the Writers Guild of America.

    The guild’s adapted screenplay award on Sunday went to Chris Terrio for “Argo,” director Ben Affleck’s tale of the CIA’s daring masquerade of six U.S. diplomats as a Hollywood film crew to rescue them from Iran during the hostage crisis there.

    Mark Boal won the prize for original screenplay for “Zero Dark Thirty,” director Kathryn Bigelow’s chronicle* of the CIA’s manhunt for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

    Director Malik Bendjelloul won the documentary award for “Searching for Sugar Man,” his portrait of acclaimed but largely forgotten 1970s musician Rodriguez.

    The guild was the last of Hollywood’s major trade unions to weigh in on the year’s top films before next Sunday’s Academy Awards.(SD-Agencies)