Naeem’s arrest ‘Exposure jeopardised plan to nab suspects’
ISLAMABAD: The disclosure of the arrest of, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, an alleged al-Qaeda computer expert jeopardised Pakistani efforts to capture more members of Osama bin Laden’s network, government and security officials said on Tuesday.
Two senior Pakistani officials said initial reports in Western media last week of the capture of 25-year-old Pakistani computer engineer had enabled other al-Qaeda suspects to get away, but declined to say whether the US officials were to blame for the leak. "Let me say that this intelligence leak jeopardised our plan and some al-Qaeda suspects ran away," one of the officials said on condition of anonymity.
"The exposure of Naeem’s name proved a blow to the investigations," a senior government official said, on condition of anonymity. The arrests also prompted a series of raids in Britain and uncovered past al-Qaeda surveillance in the United States. Reports said on Tuesday Naeem Noor Khan was trying to get into Canada when he was arrested. His application for a visitor’s visa that would have allowed him to stay in Canada for six months was pending at the time of his arrest, the Globe and Mail and National Post newspapers reported on Tuesday.
The two Pakistani officials said that after Khan’s arrest, other al-Qaeda suspects abruptly changed their hideouts and moved to unknown places. The first official described the initial publication of the news of Khan’s arrest as "very disturbing." He said no Pakistani official had leaked the information.
Separately, military spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan on Tuesday said Pakistan was bracing for a backlash from militants after its most successful crackdown on al-Qaeda and local allies to date.
A senior government official said, on condition of anonymity that, several ministers, including Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat and Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, were on alert for possible attacks. "They have been advised to limit their movements," he said.
Meanwhile, a senior Pakistani intelligence official told AFP on Tuesday that al-Qaeda operatives captured in Pakistan were plotting terrorist attacks aimed at influencing the US presidential elections in November. |
