Thursday, September 17, 2009

Times : Airline bomb plot: coded e-mail trail exposed plan

Airline bomb plot: coded e-mail trail exposed plan

Three men found guilty of plotting to blown up passenger planes using liquid bombs

Sean O'Neill, Crime and Security Editor | September 7, 2009

A string of coded e-mails between the terror cell leaders in Britain and their al-Qaeda taskmasters revealed the extent to which the airline plot was being run from Pakistan.

The e-mails were monitored during the investigation and presented in evidence after being obtained from the internet service provider.

Yahoo was served with a court order in California ordering their production.

At the centre of the exchange of messages is a figure referred to as "Paps" or "Papa" - believed to be a pen-name used by a British-born Muslim from Birmingham, who played a key part in recruiting and facilitating al-Qaeda activity in Britain from Pakistan.

The man is reported by US intelligence to have been killed by a Predator drone missile strike on a house in Pakistan's tribal areas last year. But between 2003-06 he was believed to be the key link-man in turning British jihadists who wanted to fight in Afghanistan or Iraq into terrorists and suicide bombers willing to attack their home country.

Abdullah Ahmed Ali, who visited Pakistan several times in that period, was one of the man's protégés. He registered two e-mail addresses while in the Pakistani capital Islamabad in June 2006. For one address he claimed to be an American woman called Tippu Khjan from 'Shepherdstown, West Virginia'. In the second address he used the identity 'Jameel Masood' - again filling in 'United States' under the location heading.

Assad Sarwar, the gang's quartermaster, had similar arrangements for e-mailing contacts in Pakistan - setting up two accounts under false names.

They then allocated nicknames to themselves and the young men they recruited and used codes for the material they were acquiring to make their explosive devices.

Hydrogen peroxide, a key ingredient, was referred to in the e-mails as "aftershave", with price per bottle referring to its concentration. The number of bottles meant the volumes required: with "40 bottles" signifying four litres.

Investigators believed that repeated reference to a rap concert - believed to be a trial run - indicated that the plotters planned to test airport security by sending one of their number on a flight to America in the run-up to the real attacks.

They were also constantly aware of the threat of police surveillance, referred to in the emails as a "skin problem", while "wedding videos" were references to the martyrdom tapes they had recorded.

On 26 June, two days after Ali's return to England from Islamabad, he sent a message to Pakistan saying: "Hi, yeah I'm cool. Got back from holiday. Everything went fine. Didn't get any problems at all. I'm just getting settled, take a few days, then I'll start trading."

On July 4, he informed his contact of a new recruit: "Hey, my mate... he is up for the gig as well. Is it OK if you put him in? He has sorted his looks out, he no longer looks like a junkie. I believe he is ready to be promoted.

"My [other] mate said he is cool with a (rehearsal) trial run. I will send him soon to the club for the weekend. All the lads give their love."

On July 5, Ali asks again about the dummy run: "Ask Paps where I can send my [other mate] for the rehearsal. What studio?"

Pakistan replied on July 9, saying: "About the gig for your rapper mate, I will let you know when you call."

On July 13, in a further e-mail Pakistan told Ali: "Your friend can go to his rapping contest anywhere. Make sure he goes on the bus service that's most popular over there."

Around the same time, an e-mail from Sarwar to his contact in Pakistan, said: "I've found 15 suppliers who can get me nice Calvin Klein designer aftershave. I spoke to Imran. He says he has a... bloke can sort them out for us."

On July 20 he wrote, in what is seen as a reference to quantities and strengths of hydrogen peroxide: "I'll let you know about the aftershave bottles soon. You first said we only needed to get a box of 30. Will I need to sell this at £80, or shall I leave them for the time being?"

Pakistan replied: "I need at least 40. I've got orders for this already. I don't want to mess around as I don't want to lose these customers. You need to get a move on. Let me know when you can get it for me."

Ten days before the arrests, Pakistan is asking Ali about his "skin problem" and whether his friend has "gone to his rap concert yet?" A message to Sarwar instructs him: "You need to buy as much aftershave as possible."

Ali responded: "All I have to do is sort out opening timetable and bookings. That should take a couple of days."

The man in Pakistan, using the name "Paps", reassures Ali, telling him not to worry, to reduce contact with others in the cell whose roles were in planning and logistics.

He writes: "Don't worry too much. It's normal in summer time when it gets hot. You shouldn't see Camera Guy now really. Nabs [Sarwar] and his friend can take care of things with him. I don't want him to get your fungus skin infection and that goes for your business mate too."

He then says: "Do your opening timetable. Give your girlies a big up from me."

These e-mails, with their references to dummy-runs and apparent suggestions of moving towards the final stages of planning, are thought to have spooked the US authorities and prompted them to demand the arrest of the contact in Pakistan.

His detention then sparked the wave of arrests in Britain on August 9, as police and MI5 moved to close down the cell before Ali and his associates discovered what had happened in Pakistan.

He later escaped from police custody but was reported killed in November last year. His family disputes the reports of his death but intelligence sources say it is based on high-quality images of the drone attack and its aftermath.