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Journalism of Courage
A Pakistani man whose arrest led the authorities to uncover the terrorist reconnaissance of financial institutions in the US was also communicating with people believed to be behind a plot to disrupt the fall elections, an intelligence official said here on Sunday.
The arrest of Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan has prompted a probe in the US, UK and other countries to locate those behind surveillance operations. It is not clear if Khan represents the second intelligence channel that officials have mentioned in recent days as convincing them that the 3- and 4-year-old reconnaissance of financial institutions was related to current threats. But Khan is emerging as a central figure in an expanding web of connections that indicates the authorities may have penetrated a group whose intentions were previously unknown.
A possible threat to the elections has been mentioned by Bush administration officials since the spring. US authorities said on Saturday they were close to identifying the main figures who conducted reconnaissance studies of the financial institutions.
The authorities have begun a large-scale investigation in the US, Britain and other countries in a search for suspects. Investigators are counting on people already in custody, or others whom they hope to apprehend, to help solve the mystery of whether the plot is still active. — (NYT)
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Al Qaeda operative arrested in UAE, handed over to Pak
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• Islamabad: A senior Al Qaeda operative, linked to assassination bids on President Pervez Musharraf and PM-designate Shaukat Aziz, has been arrested in the UAE and handed over to Pakistan, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Sunday. Qari Saifullah Akhtar, described as the “operational head of Al Qaeda”, would be questioned regarding his involvement in the attacks on Musharraf last December and the attack on Aziz. The investigators would also try to get an insight into the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and Taliban chief Mullah Omar as Akhtar is believed to be with them in Afghanistan at the time of the US-led war on Taliban in 2001. — PTI |
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