| Submit your comments on this article |
| Terror Networks |
| How al-Qaeda broadcasts tapes without being caught |
| 2006-01-21 |
| The broadcast of terror tapes on al Jazeera highlights a question that has haunted U.S. intelligence for a number of years now: How do these tapes find their way to the offices of the Qatari news channel, and why can't something be done to follow their trail to Osama bin Laden's doorstep? This question remained largely unanswered until the arrest last May in Pakistan of Abu Faraj al Libbi, one of al Qaeda's operational commanders. Under intense interrogation, al Libbi revealed that Osama bin Laden's tapes — like his operational directives — are hand carried from courier to courier in a long and intricate route that involves several dozen "runners." According to al Libbi, it takes six to 12 weeks of travel in the remote and inhospitable areas along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahri are still hiding. Based on this piece of intelligence, the Pakistani government succeeded in infiltrating parts of these courier networks in 2005. But because of the extraordinary precautions taken by al Qaeda's messengers, the Pakistanis were unable to trace them back to either Zawahri or bin Laden. The system involves each courier hand delivering the tape or the written message to another courier or location without knowing the courier's identity, the origin of the tape or message or its destination. It makes it almost impossible for intelligence agencies to roll up the entire network. Some of these intermediaries are recruited among the thousands of travelling Muslim preachers who roam Pakistan's tribal and northern areas, usually on foot. Analysts believe this system is still in place today, and may span several countries. According to a senior Pakistani intelligence source, the latest tape was hand delivered by an anonymous source to al Jazeera's Dubai bureau in the United Arab Emirates. The tapes are usually dropped off in an envelope at al Jazeera's offices in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Many commentators suspect a "back channel" relationship between the news channel and the terrorist organization. In 2005, al Jazeera reporter Taysir Alluni, who had interviewed bin Laden in Afghanistan several weeks after 9/11, was sentenced by a Spanish court to seven years in prison for providing help to two al Qaeda operatives wanted in connection with the Madrid train bombings in 2004. Despite this high-profile case, there is little evidence of any formal relationship, agreement or even sustained communication between al Jazeera and al Qaeda. And al Jazeera strongly denies it. Osama bin Laden's use of the Qatari news channel likely has more to do with strategy than ideology. With its audience of 50 to 70 million viewers around the world, al Jazeera has emerged not only as the Muslim world's most-watched news outlet but as a powerful force driving political views of Muslims around the world. By using al Jazeera to broadcast its messages, al Qaeda is simply borrowing the network's global reach to further its own, while making sure that the message will reach the audience with little alteration or editing, and no mistranslation. This is especially key when bin Laden or Zawahri, as Western intelligence agencies report, wish to send covert messages to their operatives across the world. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 Weird, since ISI is staff's the network. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-01-21 19:51 |
| #1 But because of the extraordinary precautions taken by al Qaeda's messengers, the Pakistanis were unable to trace them back to either Zawahri or bin Laden. BS! Give us a break please. Unwilling is the operative here. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-01-21 11:06 |