Text 1128, 99 rader
Skriven 2004-08-09 05:11:28 av RICHARD JOHNSON (1:10/345)
Ärende: Anything for politics
=============================
This administration of liars, criminals and corrupt self serving democracy
haters would use anything for political gain, even harm our intelligence
sources.

 
U.S. leak 'harms al Qaeda sting'

Monday, August 9, 2004 Posted: 6:24 AM EDT (1024 GMT)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The effort by U.S. officials to justify raising
the terror alert level last week may have shut down an important source of
information that has already led to a series of al Qaeda arrests, Pakistani
intelligence sources have said.

Until U.S. officials leaked the arrest of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan to
reporters, Pakistan had been using him in a sting operation to track down al
Qaeda operatives around the world, the sources said.

In background briefings with journalists last week, unnamed U.S. government
officials said it was the capture of Khan that provided the information that
led Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to announce a higher terror alert
level.

Khan is a computer expert who officials said helped Osama bin Laden communicate
with his terror network.

Investigators found detailed surveillance information on certain targets in the
United States, apparently conducted by al Qaeda operatives, on Khan's computer
disks.

The unnamed U.S. officials leaked Khan's name along with confirmation that most
of the surveillance data was three or four years old, arguing that its age was
irrelevant because al Qaeda planned attacks so far in advance.

Law enforcement sources said some of the intelligence gleaned from the arrests
of Khan and others gave phone numbers and e-mail addresses that the FBI and
other agencies were using to try to track down any al Qaeda operatives in the
United States.

Then on Friday, after Khan's name was revealed, government sources told CNN
that counterterrorism officials had seen a drop in intercepted communications
among suspected terrorists.

Officials used Sunday's talk shows to defend last week's heightened alerts,
amid widespread claims the White House disclosed Khan's arrest to justify
raising its terror alert level. (Full story)

But some observers have said that Islamabad should not have been compromised by
political considerations in Washington.

One senator told CNN that U.S. officials should have kept Khan's role quiet.

"You always want to know the evidence," said Sen. George Allen.

"In this situation, in my view, they should have kept their mouth shut and just
said, 'We have information, trust us.' "

Sen. Charles Schumer said he was "troubled" by the decision to identify Khan.

He said the public learned little from reports of Khan's role, "and it seems to
me they shouldn't have put this name out."

"The Pakistani interior minister, Faisal Hayat, as well as the British home
secretary, David Blunkett, have expressed displeasure in fairly severe terms
that Khan's name was released, because they were trying to track down other
contacts of his," Schumer told CNN.
Looking forward

But Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad downplayed the effect of
the U.S. "outing" of Khan, saying Islamabad is looking forward and not back.

"We are moving towards the positive side," he said. "We've got positive
information and we believe there will be positive results."

Pakistan continued its crackdown over the weekend, going after multiple al
Qaeda cells around the world.

They are on the manhunt for two North African al Qaeda operatives -- Abu Farj
of Libya and an Egyptian named Hamza -- who are connected to Ahman Khalfan
Ghailani, who was arrested in late July.

Meanwhile, an al Qaeda operative believed to have been close to bin Laden and
Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar was flown home to Pakistan after he was
arrested in Dubai, intelligence sources said. (Senior figure arrested)

Pakistani intelligence officials said information provided by Khan not only
contributed to the rise in the U.S. terror alert level but also led to 13
arrests on terrorism charges in Britain.

Four of the 13 have since been released, but British police have been given
until Tuesday to question the remaining nine. (Full story)

British officials declined to comment.

CNN Correspondent Maria Ressa contributed to this report

 
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