FROM: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/100107/world/afghanistan_unrest_us_jordan_turkey_1
ISTANBUL (AFP) - The Turkish wife of the Jordanian suicide bomber who killed seven CIA agents in Afghanistan expressed pride on Thursday in what he had done.
"I am proud of my husband. He carried out a great operation in this war. I hope Allah will accept his martyrdom, if he has become a martyr," Defne Bayrak told reporters in Istanbul, where she lives.
"I am not ashamed. He did this against the American occupation" of Afghanistan, she said, the Turkish news agency Anatolia reported.
Bayrak's husband, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, blew himself up at a US military base near the Pakistani border on December 30 in the deadliest attack against the Central Intelligence Agency since 1983.
Turkish police summoned Bayrak for questioning by the anti-terrorism unit in Istanbul on Thursday evening, Anatolia reported, quoting police, with the interrogation expected to last several hours.
Before police questioning, Bayrak, wearing a black chador, told journalists she did not believe her husband -- a reputed double agent -- had worked for the CIA because "he was an enemy of America".
"It is not likely my husband was a spy because he was an enemy of America... My husband could have only exploited America and Jordan," she was quoted by Anatolia as saying.
The couple married in 2001 in Istanbul, where Balawi had been studying medicine since 1995, and moved to Jordan the following year after Balawi graduated.
Neither had criminal records in Turkey, Anatolia said.
Bayrak, who has been in Istanbul with her two daughters since October, described her husband as a "believer" who was active on jihadist forums on the Internet and "a man who would not even leave the house."
She said she had not seen Balawi since she returned from Pakistan -- where he had gone to pursue medical studies -- in March 2008.
Balawi told his family he was planning to rejoin them in Turkey, she said.
Bayrak, who holds a degree in journalism, has written and translated books and penned articles for Islamist publications.
*** Cop out. You have robbed your daughters of a father. This is not heroism, this is cowardice and shirking responsibilities. MS ***
Showing posts with label attack on CIA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label attack on CIA. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
DOUBLE AGENT HITS CIA
Bomber in CIA attack a double agent
Jordanian doctor behind blast brought to U.S. base in belief he could deliver top Al Qaeda operative
FROM: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/afghanistan/article/746067--bomber-in-cia-attack-a-double-agent?bn=1
WASHINGTON–The suicide bomber who killed seven CIA operatives in Afghanistan last week was a Jordanian informant who lured intelligence officers into a trap by promising new information about Al Qaeda's top leadership, former U.S. government officials said Monday.
The attacker, a physician-turned-mole, had been recruited to infiltrate Al Qaeda's senior circles and had gained the trust of his CIA and Jordanian handlers with a stream of useful intelligence leads, according to two former senior officials briefed on the agency's internal investigation. His track record as an informant apparently allowed him to enter a key CIA post without a thorough search, the sources said.
The bomber, identified as Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, was standing just outside an agency building on the base on Wednesday when he exploded a bomb hidden under his clothes, killing the seven Americans along with a Jordanian officer who had been assigned to work with him. Six CIA operatives were wounded.
The agency has declined to publicly identify the victims, a mix of career officers and contractors.
Details about the suicide bomber's identity provided jarring insight into how a vital intelligence post in eastern Afghanistan was penetrated in the deadliest attack on the CIA in more than 25 years. Initial reports suggested the bomber was an Afghan soldier or a local informant who had been brought onto the base for debriefing.
Instead, the new evidence points to a carefully planned act of deception by a trusted operative from a country closely allied with the United States in the fight against Al Qaeda. U.S. and Jordanian officials had come to regard Balawi as trustworthy, former officials said.
"He was someone who had already worked with us," said a former U.S. counterterrorism officer.
The CIA declined to comment on reports identifying Balawi as the bomber, first posted by Al Jazeera on its website. A U.S. intelligence official said only that the agency is "looking closely at every aspect" of the attack on the facility known as Forward Operating Base Chapman, in the province of Khost near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan.
Al Jazeera described Balawi as a 36-year-old physician from Zarqa, a Jordanian town that also was the home of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the slain former leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. It said Balawi had been recruited to help track down Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian physician and second in command of Al Qaeda, who U.S. intelligence officials believe is hiding in the lawless border region.
Balawi had a history of supporting jihadist causes and had been arrested in late 2007, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist websites. He was detained by Jordan's intelligence agency, which sought to turn him into an informant, the former government officials said.
Before his arrest, Balawi, who used the online name Abu Dujana al-Khorasani, was a well-known contributor to al-Hesbah, a once prominent jihadist forum, according to SITE. He eventually became an administrator of the website.
The role of Jordanian intelligence at the CIA's base was tacitly acknowledged over the weekend when the body of the Jordanian intelligence operative was flown home for a military burial in the capital city of Amman. The man was identified in Jordanian news accounts as Sharif Ali bin Zeid.
Jordan is a key ally in the U.S. fight against Al Qaeda, and its intelligence operatives have been integrated into missions in the Middle East and beyond, current and former U.S. intelligence officials say. However, Jordan's role has remained virtually invisible.
Jordanian doctor behind blast brought to U.S. base in belief he could deliver top Al Qaeda operative
FROM: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/afghanistan/article/746067--bomber-in-cia-attack-a-double-agent?bn=1
WASHINGTON–The suicide bomber who killed seven CIA operatives in Afghanistan last week was a Jordanian informant who lured intelligence officers into a trap by promising new information about Al Qaeda's top leadership, former U.S. government officials said Monday.
The attacker, a physician-turned-mole, had been recruited to infiltrate Al Qaeda's senior circles and had gained the trust of his CIA and Jordanian handlers with a stream of useful intelligence leads, according to two former senior officials briefed on the agency's internal investigation. His track record as an informant apparently allowed him to enter a key CIA post without a thorough search, the sources said.
The bomber, identified as Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, was standing just outside an agency building on the base on Wednesday when he exploded a bomb hidden under his clothes, killing the seven Americans along with a Jordanian officer who had been assigned to work with him. Six CIA operatives were wounded.
The agency has declined to publicly identify the victims, a mix of career officers and contractors.
Details about the suicide bomber's identity provided jarring insight into how a vital intelligence post in eastern Afghanistan was penetrated in the deadliest attack on the CIA in more than 25 years. Initial reports suggested the bomber was an Afghan soldier or a local informant who had been brought onto the base for debriefing.
Instead, the new evidence points to a carefully planned act of deception by a trusted operative from a country closely allied with the United States in the fight against Al Qaeda. U.S. and Jordanian officials had come to regard Balawi as trustworthy, former officials said.
"He was someone who had already worked with us," said a former U.S. counterterrorism officer.
The CIA declined to comment on reports identifying Balawi as the bomber, first posted by Al Jazeera on its website. A U.S. intelligence official said only that the agency is "looking closely at every aspect" of the attack on the facility known as Forward Operating Base Chapman, in the province of Khost near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan.
Al Jazeera described Balawi as a 36-year-old physician from Zarqa, a Jordanian town that also was the home of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the slain former leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. It said Balawi had been recruited to help track down Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian physician and second in command of Al Qaeda, who U.S. intelligence officials believe is hiding in the lawless border region.
Balawi had a history of supporting jihadist causes and had been arrested in late 2007, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist websites. He was detained by Jordan's intelligence agency, which sought to turn him into an informant, the former government officials said.
Before his arrest, Balawi, who used the online name Abu Dujana al-Khorasani, was a well-known contributor to al-Hesbah, a once prominent jihadist forum, according to SITE. He eventually became an administrator of the website.
The role of Jordanian intelligence at the CIA's base was tacitly acknowledged over the weekend when the body of the Jordanian intelligence operative was flown home for a military burial in the capital city of Amman. The man was identified in Jordanian news accounts as Sharif Ali bin Zeid.
Jordan is a key ally in the U.S. fight against Al Qaeda, and its intelligence operatives have been integrated into missions in the Middle East and beyond, current and former U.S. intelligence officials say. However, Jordan's role has remained virtually invisible.
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