[mv at cdc.gov: Al Q's anonymous comms]

J.A. Terranson measl at mfn.org
Mon Jan 23 01:08:05 PST 2006


Eugen,  I am surprised that this is new to you!  Dead drops are as old as
tradecraft itself.

It's also the assumed transmission methodology for potentially fatal
messages.  No amount of rubberhose technology can recreate the chain.

//Alif



On Sun, 22 Jan 2006, Eugen Leitl wrote:

> Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2006 19:24:52 +0100
> From: Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org>
> To: cypherpunks at jfet.org
> Subject: [mv at cdc.gov: Al Q's anonymous comms]
>
> Unsurprisingly, very much like physical onion routing.
> By using http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_drop even
> no need for couriers to ever meet each other.
>
> I'm resending this in full text, so that the archives
> will get it.
>
> ----- Forwarded message from "Major Variola (ret)" <mv at cdc.gov> -----
>
> From: "Major Variola (ret)" <mv at cdc.gov>
> Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2006 09:21:55 -0800
> To: "cypherpunks at al-qaeda.net" <cypherpunks at jfet.org>
> Subject: Al Q's anonymous comms
> X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.8 [en] (Win98; U)
>
> 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
>
> [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type application/pgp-signature which had a name of signature.asc]
>

-- 
Yours,

J.A. Terranson
sysadmin at mfn.org
0xBD4A95BF


'The right of self defence is the first law of nature: in most governments
it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest
limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of
the people to keep and bear arms is, under any colour or pretext
whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the
brink of destruction.'

St. George Tucker





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