Pakistani in terror sting named (blows UK sting)

[Snazzy]

(mods--think this is a much dif. take on this than existing stories and is important for that reason)

Pakistani in terror sting named
Fri 6 August, 2004 15:38

By Peter Graff

LONDON (Reuters) - A Pakistani computer expert linked to U.S. security alerts and the arrest of 12 terrorism suspects in Britain was part of an undercover sting operation before Washington revealed his name, according to The Times.

The report raised suggestions that U.S. officials, determined to present a public justification for security alerts that caused widespread disruption in New York and other cities, may have jeopardised the British police swoop.

Police sources acknowledged that they were forced to mount the raids in which they arrested the 12 more hastily than planned, but denied a report that five suspects had escaped.

U.S. officials revealed the name of Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan in anonymous briefings with journalists to justify the "orange alert" that led to some of the most disruptive anti-terrorism tactics since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

....

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=560733§ion=news

[sniffa]

1. more proof that bush is unfit for command

what an abosoLute maggot - putting poLitics above the safety of americans.

[merh]

23. Not just Americans, also those in Great Britian and any other nation

that has supported the war in iraq. I betcha the poddle is really pissed at the clown-n-chief and I betcha the British intelligence have a few words to say to our admin. What this admin won't do for political gain, this is scary and gets scarier every day.

[Tight_rope]

48. Boy...that Bush sure knows how to make and keep friends...

I'm sure the British love him even more now. They will definately roll (not) out the red carpet for him next time he visits...That's if he can leave the US...damn shame.

[Snazzy]

2. Updated: U.S. "jeopardised" al Qaeda sting

U.S. "jeopardised" al Qaeda sting
Fri 6 August, 2004 19:02

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - U.S. officials revealed the name of captured al Qaeda suspect Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan while he was still cooperating with Pakistani authorities, a Pakistani intelligence source has told Reuters.

Khan e-mailed comrades on Sunday and Monday as part of a Pakistani sting operation against Osama bin Laden's network, the source said on Friday.

But his name appeared in the New York Times on Monday following anonymous briefings by U.S. officials, raising suggestions their disclosure could have jeopardised the sting.

"He was cooperating with interrogators on Sunday and Monday and sent e-mails on both days," the intelligence source told Reuters. Khan was moved to a new location on Monday evening, he said.

U.S. officials revealed Khan's name in anonymous briefings with journalists after New York and Washington were put on high alert for a possible al Qaeda attack.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=560824

-------

This is pretty damning. Reuters is the only one I see reporting it this way. Circle-jerk of congratulatory spin everywhere else.

Like they outed Plame for revenge, this undercover operation was exposed to take heat off the fake terror alert that got Kerry off of TV sets everywhere. Who won't we catch because of these foolish assholes?

[Snazzy]

3. Updated: New head, Yahoo! Link

Pakistan Source Under Cover When U.S. Confirmed Name

24 minutes ago

By Simon Cameron-Moore and Peter Graff

ISLAMABAD/LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. officials providing justification for anti-terrorism alerts revealed details about a Pakistani secret agent, and confirmed his name while he was working under cover in a sting operation, Pakistani sources said on Friday.

A Pakistani intelligence source told Reuters Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, who was arrested in Lahore secretly last month, had been actively cooperating with intelligence agents to help catch al Qaeda operatives when his name appeared in U.S. newspapers.

"After his capture he admitted being an al Qaeda member and agreed to send e-mails to his contacts," a Pakistani intelligence source told Reuters. "He sent encoded e-mails and received encoded replies. He's a great hacker and even the U.S. agents said he was a computer whiz."

...

But British police said they had been forced to carry out their swoop more hastily than planned -- a day after Khan's name appeared in the New York Times as the source of information behind the U.S. alerts.

On Monday evening, after Khan's name appeared, Pakistani officials moved him to a secret location.

....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1895&ncid=1895&e=3&u=/nm/20040806/us_nm/security_dc

[mom cat]

4. So the Bushies can sabotage ongoing intelligence activities when

it suits their political agenda. :wtf:

[amandabeech]

5. Soulsick, you give them too much credit for actually understanding

what the *&@##$ they are doing!

Maybe now Blair understands the deep and abiding idiocy and naivete of the current regime and will give us some help here with a few choice leaks.

[mom cat]

6. Amandabeech, I think you give Blair too much credit. But we liberals

tend to be like that: too willing to assume that everyone can understand logic and common sense just because we do. Or perhaps it is just a compensatory defense against reality.

[Longhorn]

7. "Pakistan: U.S. blew undercover operation"

That's the headline MSNBC is using. Seems to me this is a big story!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5626850/

[Karenina]

8. Kick!

:kick:

[k in IA]

14. This should go on the Home page and the MSNBC title should be

the one in the subject line because it shows what an incredibly asinine and destructive act this was and that it was done by our frickin govt.

I can't believe this isn't getting any air play yet - oh, I forgot, any news that comes out that is obviously huge takes 24-72 hours before the damn media seems to notice.

[k in IA]

18. From the above MSNBC story that shows how important this guy was:

'A Pakistani intelligence source told Reuters on Friday that Khan, who was arrested in Lahore secretly last month, had been actively cooperating with intelligence agents to help catch al-Qaida operatives when his name appeared in U.S. newspapers.

... snip ...

“After his capture , he admitted being an al-Qaida member and agreed to send e-mails to his contacts,” a Pakistani intelligence source told Reuters. “He sent encoded e-mails and received encoded replies. He’s a great hacker, and even the U.S. agents said he was a computer whiz.”

The Times published a story Monday saying U.S. officials had disclosed that a man arrested in Pakistan was the source of the bulk of information leading to the security alerts. The Times identified him as Khan, although it did not say how it had learned his name.

U.S. officials subsequently confirmed the name to other news organizations Monday morning. None of the reports mentioned that Khan was working under cover at the time, helping to catch al-Qaida suspects.'


After they outed his name Pakistan had to move him to an undisclosed location.

They are reporting other places (like on CNN's web site) that they are concerned because the chatter has stopped. Well, geez, I wonder why they have stopped talking?

[Tight_rope]

49. Well it's finally getting media attention...Bush is such a fuck-up!

[Cooley Hurd]

9. Juan Cole's all over it, as well...

http://juancole.com/

<snip>
the Bush administration just blew the cover of one of the most important assets inside al-Qaeda that the US has ever had.

The announcement of Khan's name forced the British to arrest 12 members of an al-Qaeda cell prematurely, before they had finished gathering the necessary evidence against them via Khan. Apparently they feared that the cell members would scatter as soon as they saw that Khan had been compromised. (They would have known he was a double agent, since they got emails from him Sunday and Monday!) One of the twelve has already had to be released for lack of evidence, a further fall-out of the Bush SNAFU. It would be interesting to know if other cell members managed to flee.

Why in the world would Bush administration officials out a double agent working for Pakistan and the US against al-Qaeda? In a way, the motivation does not matter. If the Reuters story is true, this slip is a major screw-up that casts the gravest doubts on the competency of the administration to fight a war on terror. Either the motive was political calculation, or it was sheer stupidity. They don't deserve to be in power either way.
</snip>

[leftchick]

11. it is political AND sheer stupidity!

Juan is right, "They don't deserve to be in power either way."

and it is an understatement. They should all be in prison!

[lockdown]

10. Earlier reports said they'd cracked his encryption in two weeks

which sounded like bullshit. I assumed they'd beat a passphrase out of him, but obviously not. Like the UK "security expert" talking heads who at the time expressed surprise at a daytime raid, it's explained by this news. Unbelievable. And they've got the nerve to gag Sibel Edmonds on the grounds that she'll compromise intel assets!

[leftchick]

12. JK's Team NEEDS to use this information this weekend!!

The more I think about this the more infuriated I become. Kerry's people need to be on the tv all weekend talking about this MAJOR SNAFU by bushco*. This is the most perfect example of how they are fucking up the "war on terra" and how they are making us LESS safe daily. Use it John!!!

[54anickel]

13. Just an aside rant -

I must be in an ugly mood this AM as the "journalism styles" are really getting to me today.

the "orange alert" that led to some of the most disruptive anti-terrorism tactics since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Shit, that makes it sound like there was some massive anti-terror tactics in place for 9/11. Sheesh.:eyes: Sorry, but had to get that out of my system.

[seemslikeadream]

15. Patriot Act

All of this could have been done in secret, if they had wanted.

[unfrigginreal]

16. This is outrageous!

Can you just imagine the shit-storm if Clinton was still in office? These treasonous bastards must be held to account for this. Bush's political aspirations are more important than infiltrating Al-Qaeda apparently.

I really don't think that Kerry should get too far out in front of this as there hasn't been much press corroboration yet. But, if there is any truth to the story then he should make it an issue.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

17. So...

they "out" Valerie Plame, who's working a sting re WMD's and they "out" Khan who's working a sting re Al Qaeda. Just whose side are they on??

[54anickel]

22. Political ploy, or something much more sinister? Who are these

al-Q operatives that constantly seem to slip thru the fingers attempting to capture them anyway? :tinfoilhat:

[sattahipdeep]

27. Sibel Edmonds knew

Today, almost three years after 9/11, and more than two years since this information has been confirmed and made available to our government, the administrators in charge of language departments of the FBI remain in their positions and in charge of the information front lines of the FBI’s Counter terrorism and Counterintelligence efforts. Your report has omitted any reference to this most serious issue, has foregone any accountability what so ever, and your recommendations have refrained from addressing this issue, which when left un-addressed will have even more serious consequences. This issue is systemic and departmental. Why did your report choose to exclude this information and this serious issue despite the evidence and briefings you received? How can budget increases address and resolve this misconduct by mid-level bureaucratic management? How can the addition of a new bureaucratic layer, “ Intelligence Czar”, in its cocoon removed from the action lines, address and resolve this problem?

After almost three years the American people still do not know that thousands of lives can be jeopardized under the unspoken policy of ‘ protecting certain foreign business relations.’ The victims family members still do not realize that information and answers they have sought relentlessly for over two years has been blocked due to the unspoken decisions made and disguised under ‘ safeguarding certain diplomatic relations.’ Your report did not even attempt to address these unspoken practices, although, unlike me, you were not placed under any gag. Your hearings did not include questions regarding these unspoken and unwritten policies and practices. Despite your full awareness and understanding of certain criminal conduct that connects to certain terrorist related activities, committed by certain U.S. officials and high-level government employees, you have not proposed criminal investigations into this conduct, although under the laws of this country you are required to do so. How can budget increases address and resolve these problems, when some of them are caused by unspoken practices and unwritten policies? How can a new bureaucratic layer, “ Intelligence Czar”, in its cocoon removed from the action lines, override these unwritten policies and unspoken practices incompatible with our national security?

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/archive/scoop/stories/eb/f2/200408021604.570832e5.html

[54anickel]

32. Thanks! Interesting read. I'll have to mark it and read it more

thoroughly this evening.

[Tight_rope]

50. Yes...I read that earlier this week...We know we've been lied to.

[arwalden]

19. Talk About "Blowing A Wad" Too Quickly, Eh?

Where is the CNN analysis of THIS?

[leftchick]

20. kick...

:kick:

[k in IA]

29. I'd like to know who leaked the name and I guess it is more than one

person.


:kick:

[Snazzy]

35. Here's the NYT from Monday, still free

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/02/politics/02intel.html

Captured Qaeda Figure Led Way to Information Behind Warning
By DOUGLAS JEHL and DAVID ROHDE

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 - The unannounced capture of a figure from Al Qaeda in Pakistan several weeks ago led the Central Intelligence Agency to the rich lode of information that prompted the terror alert on Sunday, according to senior American officials.

The figure, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, was described by a Pakistani intelligence official as a 25-year-old computer engineer, arrested July 13, who had used and helped to operate a secret Qaeda communications system where information was transferred via coded messages.


--------

The article mentions:

"A senior United States official"
"A second senior American official"
and "One senior American intelligence official"
and the catch-all (same three guys?) "senior American intelligence officials"

"The American officials would say only that the Qaeda figure whose capture had led to the discovery of the documentary evidence had been captured with the help of the C.I.A. Though Pakistan announced the arrest last week of a Qaeda member, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian wanted in connection with the bombings of American embassies in East Africa in 1998, the American officials suggested that he had not been the source of the new threat information."

So they are clearly all pointing the way that Pakistan had somebody else.

This is all the day after the orange alert. I wonder if all three guys were at a DHS media availability. The author DOUGLAS JEHL is NYT Washington.

Ah, there was a media availability at Ridge's terror photo op:

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=3872

Article goes on to say:

An account provided by a Pakistani intelligence official made clear that the crucial capture in recent weeks had been that of Mr. Khan, who is also known as Abu Talha. The intelligence official provided information describing Mr. Khan as having assisted in evaluating potential American and Western targets for terrorist attacks, and as being representative of a "new Al Qaeda."

The other author is DAVID ROHDE, NYT Karachi, Pakistan.

----

Side note--someone much like Khan played a role in Daniel Pearl's photos getting on the internet

[sattahipdeep]

36. One senior American intelligence official

My money is on Krongard.

[k in IA]

39. F$#kin Faux news just reported that he was a mole in AQ but the NYT

printed his name so it blew his cover! NO MENTION of who told the NYT.

It must be the NYT fault. It is their responsibility to protect the * Administration from its own stupidity.

And then they just kept harping on how Dean's questioning of the terror alert made the Administration have to justify it.

Are they ever responsible for anything they do? Pathetic.

[Swede]

21. Why does Bush hate America?

[unfrigginreal]

24. Reuters update - Unmasking of Qaeda mole a security blunder

t 7 August, 2004 18:00

By Peter Graff

LONDON (Reuters) - The revelation that a mole within al Qaeda was exposed after Washington launched its "orange alert" this month has shocked security experts, who say the outing of the source may have set back the war on terror.

<snip>

"The whole thing smacks of either incompetence or worse," said Tim Ripley, a security expert who writes for Jane's Defence publications. "You have to ask: what are they doing compromising a deep mole within al Qaeda, when it's so difficult to get these guys in there in the first place?

"It goes against all the rules of counter-espionage, counter-terrorism, running agents and so forth. It's not exactly cloak and dagger undercover work if it's on the front pages every time there's a development, is it?"

A source such as Khan -- cooperating with the authorities while staying in active contact with trusting al Qaeda agents -- would be among the most prized assets imaginable, he said.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=561078§ion=news

[54anickel]

25. Links not working, this is an excellent article

edit to attempt to add link that worked for me. :shrug:

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=561079§ion=news

[unfrigginreal]

30. Sorry about that, here it is

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=561078§ion=news

[54anickel]

31. Works now - nevermind

[Snazzy]

33. Reuters links a pain

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5902856

I noticed yesterday that it took until at least 6pm for this to make it over to Yahoo, well after eve. news had been scripted. Might have been later.

More from that:

British police have acknowledged the raids were carried out in a rush. Suspects were dragged out of shops in daylight and caught in a high speed car chase, instead of the usual procedure of catching them at home in the early morning while they can offer less resistance.

...

"Running agents within a terrorist organization is the Holy Grail of intelligence agencies. And to have it blown is a major setback which negates months and years of work, which may be difficult to recover."

...

But the Pakistani disclosure that Khan was under cover suggests that the cell had been infiltrated, and was under surveillance at the time Washington ordered the orange alert.

The security experts said that under such circumstances it would be extraordinary to issue a public warning, because of the risk of tipping off the cell that it had been compromised.

....

And some snips from the BBC:

Terror suspects still questioned
Saturday, 7 August, 2004, 00:55 GMT 01:55 UK

...

Police have until Sunday night to continue questioning the remaining suspects before having to either release them or press charges.

...

Newsnight's diplomatic editor Mark Urban said speculation about the role of the man thought to be a senior al-Qaeda operative had "intensified...because a national security official has been briefing in the United States on this matter".

...

The raids came as Prime Minister Tony Blair faced pressure to spell out the level of the terrorism threat in the UK following a heightened alert in parts of the US.

...

According to Home Office figures, by May this year only 14 of the 562 people arrested under the Terrorism Act since 11 September 2001 had been convicted of charges under it.

....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3543760.stm

[k in IA]

34. It was posted on MSNBC at 7:18 EST on Friday but they never mentioned

it during news updates or anything. I haven't seen any of the news channels mention it today either - not the relevant part about outing someone working for us.

[realFedUp]

26. kick

coz this is the story of the weekend.

[number6]

28. ditto,....more proof that bush is unfit for command

safer my ass

[Kadie]

37. A Yahoo link to rate...

Local - New York Daily News


U.S. rapped for blowing spy's cover

Sat Aug 7, 7:43 AM ET Add Local - New York Daily News to My Yahoo!


BY CORKY SIEMASZKO, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

A captured Al Qaeda computer whiz was E-mailing his comrades as part of a sting operation to nab other top terrorists when U.S. officials blew his cover, sources said yesterday


Within hours of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan's name being publicized Monday, British police launched lightning raids that netted a dozen suspected Al Qaeda terrorists, including one who was nabbed after a high-speed car chase.


Among those taken into custody was Abu Eisa Al Hindi, whose scouting of the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites), the Citigroup Center and other financial sites for possible attacks prompted the latest orange alert terror warnings.


Now British and Pakistani intelligence officials are furious with the Americans for unmasking their super spy - apparently to justify the orange alert - and for naming the other captured terrorist suspects.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/kr/20040807/lo_krnewyork/usrappedforblowingspyscover

[Lyagushka]

38. This explains a lot...

When the arrests were made in the UK, there was a lot of confusion in the press about they way they had been carried out (in broad daylight and possibly placing Innocent bystanders at risk). The BBC interviewed several people who had been told (by armed police) to get inside or to get well out of the way during the raid, and were clearly shocked by the experience. That's not the way the police do such raids normally (the previous raid on a possible al Q'aeda cell was the usual 'dawn raid' when no one was around) so it certainly seems that they were rushed to deal with this issue in a way they would not normally have done. I am still a little confused that it was only by 4pm that the police raided these men- they were under surveillance so it was not as if they had to find them. My suspicion is that these suspect may well have been key al Q'aeda members (in the UK) and a decision to undertake the raids may have had to be made at a very high level. If true that may suggest that the release of Khan's name did significantly undermine a larger operation here in the UK.

I know the police are probably not the NYT's highest subscribers, but I got my email at 9am here, although that edition did not name him, I am sure there is enough detail for others to have recognized who this might be. So why a 7 hour delay ? If nothing else it still shows our intelligence services don't talk to each other properly, and that is hardly something to be recommended during this war on terrorism.

Thanks to the Bush admin' for that one. Next time Scotland Yard announces that it is not a matter of 'if' but 'when' there is a major attack in London, I will know who to thank.

[many a good man]

40. Kick

Yikes! These guys are dangerous!

:kick:

[realFedUp]

41. Anyone seeing this in mainstream US newspapers?

I'm not.

It's the incompetence, stupid.

[Snazzy]

42. Just spin

And planting spin so that when the "1st string" reports go to work Monday, the story, the out, is already written.

Edit: Like this, where AP tells us what to think, picked up everywhere, unlike Reuters:

AP: Arrests Damage al-Qaida Network

Sat Aug 7,10:38 AM ET Add World - AP to My Yahoo!


By PAUL HAVEN, Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The trail began with a hunt for the people who ambushed a Pakistani commander as his motorcade tried to cross Karachi's Clifton Bridge in June. It led to a torrent of intelligence and ended with dozens of arrests in Pakistan and Britain and a terror warning in the United States.


Along the way, investigators passed through Karachi's teeming streets, to the dusty tribal village of Shakai along the Pakistan-Afghan border, to seemingly placid suburban London, to the world's financial headquarters in New York and to Washington, D.C.

The arrests of several senior al-Qaida figures in Pakistan and Britain in the weeks that followed — including a key operative in London and a man on the FBI's most-wanted list for the U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa — are a striking example of intrepid police and intelligence work, international cooperation and simple good luck.

The breaks have dealt a significant blow to Osama bin Laden's network, eliminated a tribal transit point for his men and drawn the strongest link yet between al-Qaida's international plans and attacks on senior politicians here, including President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and the prime minister-designate, Pakistani police and intelligence officials told The Associated Press.

....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&ncid=535&e=15&u=/ap/20040807/ap_on_re_as/al_qaida_the_trail

This was called a news analysis piece on the wire, but just gets picked up as news by everybody. Clearly, they don't touch the blown undercover op aspect. Wonder why Reuters couldn't wait till Monday.

[realFedUp]

43. Briefly reported on ABC world news

but you had to have your ears tuned to catch
it in the middle of a sentence....

[Snazzy]

52. CNN Lead Story: U.S. leak 'harms al Qaeda sting'

U.S. leak 'harms al Qaeda sting'
Monday, August 9, 2004 Posted: 1024 GMT (1824 HKT)

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.

....

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/08/09/terror.wrap/index.html

I've heard little mentions here and there over the weekend. Need to watch their next broadcast and see if this gets air.

I'd expect some major new bs shortly if this is being broadcast. Already there is a report about terror helicopters....

New Juan Cole:

http://www.juancole.com/2004_08_01_juancole_archive.html#109203103143466382

Thread on CNN here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=737588

[Career Prole]

44. So let's sum up.

Bush blew the cover of a CIA operative working on the WMD effort.
Bush blew the cover of the ONLY al Qaeda double agent we've ever had.
Bush blew a gazillion dollar surplus.
Repukes say he deserves another term.

Monica blew Clinton.
Repukes say he deserved impeachment.

Sure...whatever. :grr:

[realFedUp]

45. Of course the NYT coverage is BS

Not mentioning outing a mole, but what he may
have found linked to elections.

[sattahipdeep]

46. Wanted the guy out in the open for some reason

I'm sure the english didn't want the mole outed
nor packistan the guy was cooperating so why out him?

They have to have a real scare.......

[ILeft]

47. Wild guess: Had to call off something at last minute?

Just a wild guess. Everybody (but me) watches CNN...

edit: Just to be clear- Tom Ridge can't go on television and say, "The dinner engagement for later this month has been cancelled." That would be SO suspicious.

[Tellurian]

51. No wonder Bush is pressing so hard to create a new Central Agency

for funneling ALL US intelligence information to one agency. That means the fbi, the CiA, the NSA, Echelon, DOD, FEMA, Secret Service, and a whole host of others were are not aware of- would arrive at one place, similar to the Office of Special Plans.

He and Poppy would essentially be self-appointed Kings for all eternity.