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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Labtop yields al-Qaeda secrets |
| 2005-04-28 |
| COALITION forces in Iraq have seized a laptop computer thought to belong to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda's area leader, providing them with vital intelligence on the insurgency which is continuing to wreak havoc across the country. Air Force General Richard Myers, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has masterminded the "global war on terror", trumpeted the intelligence coup in a Pentagon briefing as proof that US troops were "winning" in Iraq, despite the recent upsurge in attacks that have killed more than a dozen westerners and scores of Iraqis in the past two weeks. US intelligence chiefs were able to download several leads from the computer's hard drives, which also contained digital photos of the Jordanian-born al-Qaeda operative. The intelligence led to raids being mounted on a number of "safe houses" and several lieutenants of Zarqawi being captured, along with bomb-making equipment. But General Myers admitted the rate of insurgent attacks - currently at 50 to 60 each day - is now back up to 2004 levels after a drop following January's election, which had led some Pentagon chiefs to suggest that the US could begin withdrawing its troops. The spate of attacks continued yesterday with the killing of an Iraqi MP, who was shot dead by suspected insurgents at her home in Baghdad. Lamia Abed Khadouri, a member of the former interim prime minister Ayad Allawi's coalition, is the first politician killed since elections at the end of January. Police said gunmen knocked at her door and shot her when she answered. The past week's violence and the continued inability of Iraqi politicians to form a government have seriously dented the impression of progress that senior US generals and politicians have been trying to cultivate since January's elections. The US had some good news on the political front yesterday, when Ibrahim Jaafari finally presented a proposal to form a government including representatives of all Iraq's main ethnic and religious groups. And seeking to offer some positive information on the battle against the insurgency, General Myers said his troops were "close" to capturing Zarqawi when they seized his laptop. Pentagon officials said Zarqawi appeared to have eluded a team of covert US special-forces troops dispatched to arrest him. When the al-Qaeda operative and his party approached a checkpoint near Ramadi he became nervous and sent a car carrying associates ahead of his own pickup. When US troops stopped the first car, the trailing lorry turned around and fled. The capture of Zarqawi's laptop is not the first time US intelligence has gained access to the digital secrets of al-Qaeda. In 2003, US and Pakistani forces captured a laptop computer used by al-Qaeda's operational planner, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. It was claimed at the time that the intelligence coup yielded a list of at least half a dozen hiding places along the Pakistan-Afghan border used by Osama bin Laden and his supporters. The US has built up Zarqawi into a major figure in the Iraqi insurgency and regularly use him to try to link the conflict in Iraq to their wider, "global war on terror". But so far they have had little success in their hunt for him. The deepening security crisis in Baghdad was highlighted this week when it emerged that the British government has dispatched two RAF Puma helicopters to fly diplomats around the Iraqi capital, because it is considered too dangerous to use the roads for fear of insurgent bombs. The Puma helicopters are based at Baghdad international airport and make up to six flights a day into the heart of the city to move visiting diplomats and military commanders to the heavily fortified Green Zone. Insurgents regularly fire on the British helicopters, but to date none has been hit. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #8 How long could it take to search the 'My Documents' folder for 'jihad.ppt'? |
| Posted by: DMFD 2005-04-28 7:16:32 PM |
| #7 What the hell is a 'labtop'? Highlight, Copy (Ctrl C), Paste (Ctrl V), Dan. There's no excuse for mis-spelling when someone's already spelled (or spelt in The Scotsman) it for you. OK, I'm off my high horse. Got to go count up how many pictures of myself I have on this machine. |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2005-04-28 6:41:51 PM |
| #6 wicked, ship! but don't leave out goats goatboy "my pet" |
| Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-28 5:49:35 PM |
| #5 Bet Badanovs got it, but I'd still do a search for "love sand camels explosives". |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-04-28 5:47:22 PM |
| #4 How many of us have multiple photos of ourselves on our computer? Maybe it wasn't Zarkawi's computer, but rather a 'fan' of his for those 'inimate' moments in the latrine. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-04-28 3:07:33 PM |
| #3 How many of us have multiple photos of ourselves on our computer? I mean, other than those who may be corresponding with 14 year olds in chat rooms? Vanity, thy name is Zarqawi? |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2005-04-28 2:46:39 PM |
| #2 It's because they are "journalists". |
| Posted by: ed 2005-04-28 7:22:53 AM |
| #1 that was a fun read!! just for the "petty" and "inappropriate use" of "quote marks" and leading words like "trumpeted", Is the Scotsman pulling kids from high school?????!!! XXOX!! |
| Posted by: Grailing Ulaitle4818 2005-04-28 7:18:15 AM |