Posted on 08/05/2004 6:51:44 PM PDT by Pikamax
University drop-out who ran al-Qaida web network
Hugh Muir and Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington Friday August 6, 2004 The Guardian
The Pakistani computer expert at the centre of new allegations about al-Qaida activity in Britain and the US is known to have made several trips to Britain, having studied in London at the City University. Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan is believed to have made visits to the UK with the help of his father, a purser with Pakistan International Airways (PIA). The preliminary results of an investigation by PIA indicate that his father Hayat Noor Khan, who has left his home in Karachi and is in hiding, claimed five family tickets which would have been available for use by his son.
During his time in London Mr Khan is believed to have met Abu Hamza, the extremist being held at Belmarsh prison, south London, awaiting extradition to face terrorism charges in the US.
He began taking evening classes in early 2003 in human resources management at City University. He signed up for a 10-week course but only attended for four weeks. He was judged, by dint of his non-appearance, to have failed.
Mr Khan's knowledge was better appreciated in Pakistan where he appears to have been responsible for amassing research and circulating information to al-Qaida activists around the world.
"The anti-terrorism community thinks that he is very important because he is at the centre of a communications network for al-Qaida," said Vince Cannistraro, a former counter-terrorism official. "He took computer discs that were couriered to him from al-Qaida, and then transmitted them to throwaway web addresses to a network of al-Qaida in the field."
Pakistani officials describe him as "one of the smartest persons to have been caught in connection with anti-al-Qaida operation because of his grip of computer technology and software expertise".
They believe he designed software, created graphics showing the structures of important buildings and provided computer calculations of the damage that explosions would cause to specific targets. He distributed the information to activists, most of it encrypted.
For all his efforts to work secretly, Mr Khan, also known as Abu Talha, is understood to have been under surveillance for several days. He was picked up in Lahore and the information on his computer has given a clear insight into the way al-Qaida operates.
One Pakistani intelligence source said: "We locked on tight and it is because of this that we have been able to get so much out of him. We have shared all of this with the relevant international quarters, the US and the UK are the more important ones. And you see the results."
A university drop-out.
Just think what he could have accomplished if he had buckled down in school.
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