Al Q's anonymous comms

[Major Variola (ret)]

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.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/Terrorism/story?id=1527351

----- End forwarded message -----

How Does al Qaeda Send Terror Tapes Without Getting Caught?
Terror Network Uses Complex Messenger System, Which May Span Several
Countries
Analysis
by ALEXIS DEBAT

Jan. 20, 2006 . - 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.

A 'Back Channel' Relationship?

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 million 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.

ABC News consultant Alexis Debat is a terrorism analyst and contributing
editor of the National Interest in Washington, D.C.

Copyright ) 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures


--
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
______________________________________________________________
ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820            http://www.ativel.com
8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A  7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE

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