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Code broken, al-Qaida attack feared
Terrorists reportedly use wedding invitations to deliver instructions
Posted: December 17, 2009
12:20 am Eastern
LONDON Officers for Britain's Security Service, MI5, have discovered that a top al-Qaida terrorist in Pakistan has been using invitations to Muslim weddings as a code to launch attacks.
It's feared that recent references to a "wedding" could refer to a forthcoming attack in the United Kingdom, even though no actual location is specified in the message.
The code was devised by Rashid Rauf, a British-born terrorist wanted for his role in the plot to blow up U.S. airliners over the Atlantic. Several years ago he was detained by Pakistani intelligence agents in Islamabad but escaped from custody.
There were reports he was killed by a U.S. drone attack last year. But MI5 agents remained unconvinced Rauf is dead.
The 29-year-old son of a baker in Birmingham, England, was wanted by police in that city for the murder of a relative before he fled to Pakistan to become a key member of al-Qaida.
Details of the creation of his "wedding code" emerged after Adam Khatib was sentenced earlier this month to 18 years in jail for participating in the foiled airline bomb attack.
MI5 agents have described the 23-year-old Khatib as one of Rauf's "top lieutenants."
The two men reportedly communicated through the "wedding code."
In one message Rauf reportedly wrote: "Remember your wedding is a big day. We will all celebrate with you." MI5 analysts are certain the words refer to an attack.
Terrorists reportedly use wedding invitations to deliver instructions
Posted: December 17, 2009
12:20 am Eastern
LONDON Officers for Britain's Security Service, MI5, have discovered that a top al-Qaida terrorist in Pakistan has been using invitations to Muslim weddings as a code to launch attacks.
It's feared that recent references to a "wedding" could refer to a forthcoming attack in the United Kingdom, even though no actual location is specified in the message.
The code was devised by Rashid Rauf, a British-born terrorist wanted for his role in the plot to blow up U.S. airliners over the Atlantic. Several years ago he was detained by Pakistani intelligence agents in Islamabad but escaped from custody.
There were reports he was killed by a U.S. drone attack last year. But MI5 agents remained unconvinced Rauf is dead.
The 29-year-old son of a baker in Birmingham, England, was wanted by police in that city for the murder of a relative before he fled to Pakistan to become a key member of al-Qaida.
Details of the creation of his "wedding code" emerged after Adam Khatib was sentenced earlier this month to 18 years in jail for participating in the foiled airline bomb attack.
MI5 agents have described the 23-year-old Khatib as one of Rauf's "top lieutenants."
The two men reportedly communicated through the "wedding code."
In one message Rauf reportedly wrote: "Remember your wedding is a big day. We will all celebrate with you." MI5 analysts are certain the words refer to an attack.
