Web moves may mean Qaida regrouping
By Reuters
March 6, 2002, 6:30 AM PT
Newly detected Internet traffic among al-Qaida followers, including intercepted e-mail messages, indicates that elements of the organization may be trying to regroup in remote parts of Pakistan near the Afghan border, according to a report Wednesday.
U.S. government officials say they have found new Web sites and Internet communications that appear to be part of an effort to reconstitute al-Qaida and reestablish communications after the war in Afghanistan, The New York Times said.
Officials said the new communications traffic was a serious concern because they feared that al-Qaida could use the Internet to launch new attacks against the United States, but the content of the intercepted cyber traffic has not indicated specific threats, the report said.
Al-Qaida operatives often check messages in public places around the world, making them hard to track, the report said.
At least some of the communications can be traced back to Pakistan, a senior law enforcement official told the Times. American officials believe villages in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan, and perhaps others in the disputed Kashmir region, could be serving as new sanctuaries for al-Qaida members, the report said.
It is unclear whether the communications signal leadership trying to control various elements of the organization or simply members speaking to each other, the report said. So far, there is no sign of Osama bin Laden or other top leaders communicating with followers.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, investigators found that the hijackers communicated with each other in hundreds of e-mail messages often sent from public places, the report said.
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