What’s the ISI’s Interest in Aafia Siddiqui?



ABC News reported today that Pakistan attempted to exchange CIA contractor Raymond Davis for convicted al Qaeda operative Aafia Siddiqui. This should come as no surprise, as speculation about a possible prisoner exchange first appeared in the Pakistani press just days after Davis’ arrest. ABC News reports:

The government of Pakistan offered to trade a CIA contractor currently jailed in that country for a Pakistani neuroscientist suspected by U.S. intelligence to be an al Qaeda operative.According to a senior American administration official and a Pakistani official involved in the negotiations to free CIA contractor Raymond Davis, the Pakistani government proposed trading Davis for Aafia Siddiqui, an MIT-educated Pakistani neuroscientist currently serving 86 years in federal prison for attempted murder.

The offer was immediately dismissed by the U.S. government. “The Pakistanis have raised it,” the U.S. official said. “We are not going to pursue it.”

Keep in mind that Aafia Siddiqui, who has been dubbed “Lady al Qaeda” by the press, was sentenced to 86 years in prison by a US jury in September 2010 for attempting to kill US troops in Afghanistan after being captured in Ghazni province. Siddiqi had close links to al Qaeda operational commander Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and was involved in several plots to attack the US homeland. From Thomas Joscelyn’s report on Siddiqui:

According to an indictment prepared by US prosecutors, Siddiqui had “various documents, various chemicals, and a computer thumb drive, among other things” in her possession when she was arrested. Handwritten notes she was carrying referred to a “mass casualty attack” and listed “various locations in the United States, including Plum Island, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and the Brooklyn Bridge.”In addition, according to the indictment, “certain notes referred to the construction of ‘dirty bombs,’ chemical and biological weapons, and other explosives.” The notes “discussed mortality rates associated with certain of these weapons and explosives.”

Still other notes “referred to various ways to attack ‘enemies,’ including by destroying reconnaissance drones, using underwater bombs, and using gliders.”

Siddiqui’s computer thumb drive contained contained “correspondence that referred to specific ‘cells’ and ‘attacks’ by certain ‘cells’,” as well as documents discussing “recruitment and training.”

The notes and documents in Siddiqui’s possession reveal that she was most likely still involved in al Qaeda’s plotting against the US Homeland at the time of her capture. She apparently did not give up, even though many of her co-conspirators had been rolled up following KSM’s detention.

So what’s the interest for Pakistan to obtain Aafia Siddiqui in exchange for Mr. Devis? Could this be seen as an exchange of spies? I wonder if the ISI would like to get hold of Aafia to keep her from perhaps giving up data on their connections to AQ. After all, she is related to KSM through an uncle and it would seem, through her allegiance to AQ and Jihad. It would also seem that she may have been a key player in AQ from her having a usb thumbdrive with all kinds of technical goodies on it.

That Aafia was not sent to Gitmo is also an interesting turn, her attack on the interrogators, however, 5 years of her life cannot be accounted for, and this should be of great interest to the FBI and other anti terror entities. What was she up to and where was she post her 2003 disappearance? Why would she not be sent to Gitmo as opposed to the 86 year term she got for assault with intent?

Can one maybe say cooperation?

All I know is that Aafia had plans on that little thumbdrive for Plum Island. She had the schooling and the know how to put together a weapon of mass destruction and plans for Plum Island… And she is serving 86 years for assault.

Things that make you go “hmmmm”

K

 

British Airway Al Qaeda Mole: The IT Connection

A British Airways computer expert who plotted to blow up a plane has been found guilty of terror charges.

Rajib Karim, 31, from Newcastle, used his job to access information for radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

He denied four charges, including sharing information of use to hate groups.

But after four days of deliberations, the jury found him guilty of all four charges.

Karim was committed to an “extreme jihadist cause” and determined to become a martyr, jurors were told.

The Bangladeshi national, who moved with his wife and son to Newcastle in 2006, had already admitted being involved in the production of a terrorist group’s video.

Joined gymKarim, a privately-educated IT expert from Dhaka, became a supporter of the extremist organisation Jammat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) after being influenced by his younger brother Tehzeeb, the court heard.

He was described as a “mild-mannered, well-educated and respectful” man who hid his hatred for Western ways from colleagues by joining a gym, playing football and never airing extreme views.

But at the same time he was using his access to the airline’s offices in Newcastle and at Heathrow to spread confidential information.

After gaining a post-graduate job at BA in 2007, Karim held secret meetings with fellow Islamic extremists at Heathrow and, in 2009, began communicating with al-Awlaki from his home in Brunton Lane.

After the verdict, Home Secretary Theresa May said: “The fact that Karim has been found guilty of such a heinous plot shows why we will never be complacent.

“I want to thank the police and the security service for their hard work in this complex case.

“We know that we face a serious threat from terrorism and national security remains this government’s top priority.”

Colin Gibbs, counter terrorism lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service, added: “The most chilling element of this case is probably the fact that Karim tried to enrol as cabin crew and anyone can imagine how horrific the consequences of this could have been, had he succeeded.

“Karim’s deep determination to plan terror attacks whatever the cost was frightening.

‘Coded messages'”He found a position as a software engineer, which the prosecution said he considered the perfect job, giving an opportunity sooner or later to fulfil his deadly objective.”

Deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Stuart Osborne, added: “Although Rajib Karim went to great lengths to disguise his activities, experts from the Metropolitan Police Service Counter Terrorism Command spent nine months decrypting 300 coded messages found on his computer hard drive.

“It was the most sophisticated decryption task of its kind ever undertaken by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.

“This painstaking work gave detectives access to a body of material, which exposed Rajib Karim’s terrorist activities and led to today’s conviction.”

Karim is due to be sentenced on 18 March.

Well, here you have it. This is what I have been talking about for a while now, AQ learning to insert technical moles into positions to do us harm. This guy may be a fluke in that he could have just been in the right place at the right time, but, I think that AQ placed him where he was caught.

What’s even more interesting to me is that this guy was using his technical skills to give out important intel on Heathrow and BA’s systems to AQAP. What better way than to insert a technically capable mole who is also willing to be a shahid to do the most damage? The jihadi’s are getting more nimble and using espionage techniques to up their game. They have learned the value of technology and just how much we are all at its mercy today.

If this doesn’t ring the warning bell not only for all CT efforts, it should at the very least do so for the airlines and the airports out there. This guy had insider knowledge and access to the systems and networks that also house the baggage scanners, passenger lists, and other security methods at Heathrow.

So, how was he caught I wonder.. Perhaps as he was talking to Al Alawki online? From this one might infer that Alawki’s comm’s are pretty much tapped huh? Yeah, I would guess that…

K