U.S. leak 'harms al Qaeda sting'
 

http://www-cgi.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/as...9/terror.wrap/

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.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...defmore&q=defi
ne:treason

"Diverd4777" wrote in message
...

http://www-cgi.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/as...9/terror.wrap/

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.

Explain to me -again- why "U.S. officials" felt that they had to
"justify raising the terror alert level." You seem to be having a
hard time answering that one. Perhaps Soames123 might be able to
help.

"T. Early" wrote:

"Diverd4777" wrote in message
...

http://www-cgi.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/as...9/terror.wrap/

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.

Explain to me -again- why "U.S. officials" felt that they had to
"justify raising the terror alert level." You seem to be having a
hard time answering that one. Perhaps Soames123 might be able to
help.

Or Chandler7600!