Senator Asks White House to Explain Khan Leak (Schumer)

[Snazzy]

Senator Asks White House to Explain Khan Leak
Mon Aug 9, 2004 11:57 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. senator asked the White House to explain how and why the name of an al Qaeda informant was leaked to the press, saying it may have hurt the war on terror, a letter from the lawmaker said on Monday.

A Pakistani intelligence source said on Friday that U.S. officials confirmed the name of captured al Qaeda suspect Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan while he was still cooperating with Pakistani authorities as part of a sting operation against Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, thereby compromising his cover.

"I respectfully request an explanation to me and any other member of Congress who might wish one of who leaked this Mr. Khan's name, for what reason it was leaked, and whether ... reports that this leak compromised future intelligence activity are accurate," Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, wrote in a letter to White House domestic security adviser Frances Townsend on Aug. 8.

...

"We did not, of course, publicly disclose his name," Rice said, adding that it had been given "on background." She did not say when or by whom the name was first revealed.

....

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5913350

Related discussion here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x737588

C'mon, get legs....

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EDIT: Yahoo! link:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1895&e=9&u=/nm/20040809/pl_nm/security_usa_khan_dc

[seemslikeadream]

1. Faux News mentioned it this morning

:shrug:

[DODI]

2. You go Chuck!! This is just sickening. They prove time and

time again that they will do and say anything to save their political butts. Lord knows what kind of info we could have gotted with this guy and they blew it.

[Eurobabe]

3. oh man, GOP George Allen - VA is ticked at them?

you know this is serious!

"Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia said on television on Sunday: "In this situation, in my view, they should have kept their mouth shut and just said, 'We have information, trust us."'

Can't Bu$hCo do anything without fucking it up!!????

[TahitiNut]

4. "on background"???

Really, Condi? Is that the excuse for Plame's outing, too? Where is that identified as an affirmative defense in U.S. Code? (You fucking crook!)

[central scrutinizer]

5. It's part of the "catch and release" program

Catch a coupla terrorists, call them high value to get maximum spin, then let them go so you can catch them again later when the polls are heading south.

[underpants]

7. LOL

and they are MORE wanted the second time or the initially caught suddenly shoot up the charts.

[central scrutinizer]

8. I can't claim credit for that line

I stole it from the Randi Rhodes show.

[underpants]

6. Condi's ~"we didn't do it.....................okay we did"

"We did not, of course, publicly disclose his name," Rice said, adding that it had been given "on background." She did not say when or by whom the name was first revealed.

[realFedUp]

9. Juan Cole's info today

http://www.juancole.com

Really glad Mr. Cole is paying such close attention
to this matter. Hope he has tenure.

snip-
The British MI5 was forced to have the London cell of 13 arrested immediately on Tuesday, fearing that they would flee now that they knew Khan had been arrested two weeks earlier. The British do not, however, appear to have finished gathering enough evidence to prosecute the 13 in the courts successfully.

It now turns out, according to Neville, that "Reports last week also claimed that five al Qaida militants were on the run in the UK after escaping capture in last Tuesday’s raids." If this is true, it is likely that the 5 went underground on hearing that Khan was in custody. That is, the loose lips of the Bush administration enabled them to flee arrest.

Of the 13 taken into custody on Aug. 3, two were released for lack of evidence and two others were "no longer being questioned on suspicion of terrorism offences.

Two of the men let go on Sunday are being charged or questioned with regard to irregularities in their identity papers or lapsed visas.
By Tuesday, British police must charge the remaining 9, release them, or ask the magistrate for yet more time for questioning. Terror suspects may be held in the UK for up to two weeks without being charged, in accordance with the Terrorism Act.

[struggle4progress]

10. kick for policies designed by Rove

:kick: