Leak allowed al-Qaeda escape
2004-08-10 17:38
Islamabad - The disclosure to reporters of the arrest of an al-Qaeda computer expert allowed several wanted suspects from Osama bin Laden's terror network to escape, government and security officials said on Tuesday.
Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, a 25-year-old Pakistani computer engineer, was nabbed in a July 13 raid in the eastern city of Lahore. He then led Pakistani authorities to a key al-Qaeda figure and cooperated secretly by sending e-mails to terrorists so investigators could trace their locations.
His arrest was first reported in American newspapers on August 2 after it was disclosed to reporters by US officials in Washington. Later, the Pakistan government also confirmed his capture but gave no other details.
Two senior Pakistani officials said the reports in "Western media" enabled other al-Qaeda suspects to get away.
"Let me say that this intelligence leak jeopardized our plan and some al-Qaeda suspects ran away," one of the officials said on condition of anonymity.
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice acknowledged on Sunday that Khan's name had been disclosed to reporters in Washington "on background," meaning that it could be published, but the information could not be attributed by name to the official who had revealed it.
The Pakistani officials said that after Khan's arrest, other al-Qaeda suspects abruptly changed their hide-outs and moved to unknown places.
The first official described the publication of the news of Khan's arrest as "very disturbing".
"We have checked. No Pakistani official made this intelligence leak," he said.
Without naming any country, he said it was the responsibility of "coalition partners" to examine how a foreign journalist was able to have an access to the "classified information" about Khan's arrest.
The official refused to comment whether any US official was responsible for the leak.
On Monday, Senator Charles Schumer, asked the White House to explain why the name of Khan was revealed.
The disclosure on August 1 came as the Bush administration was defending its decision to warn about possible attacks against US financial buildings in New York, Washington and Newark, New Jersey.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan cautioned on Monday that information may be more limited about future raids against al-Qaeda suspects.