Reply #34: Strike on Libya came after West intercepted high-level communications

[tabatha]

By David S. Cloud and Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times

May 2, 2011

Reporting from Washington and Benghazi, Libya—

A NATO missile strike that Libyan officials say killed one of Moammar Kadafi's sons and three of his grandchildren was launched after Western intelligence intercepted high-level communications from the site, NATO and U.S. military officers said.

Up to three missiles slammed into what appears to have been an upscale villa in Tripoli late Saturday after "clear indications from signals" that the Libyan regime was using it to communicate with military units to carry out attacks against rebel-held areas, said a senior NATO officer.

"Signals intelligence" is a term for various forms of personal and electronic communications, including cellphone conversations and email. It wasn't clear if intelligence operations had detected Kadafi's voice or had intercepted other communications by him or his aides.

The building "had been disguised as a residence but was really a C2 bunker," the North Atlantic Treaty Organization officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing intelligence, said Sunday. "It just so happened certain folks were there."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-violence-20110502,0,4826785.story