CIA attacker ranked best Al-Qaeda informant in years: report [View All]

Source: afp

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A Jordanian informant suspected of a suicide bombing that killed seven CIA officers in Afghanistan last week was ranked the agency's best lead on Al-Qaeda in years, the New York Times said on Wednesday.

Citing US intelligence officials, the Times said the Jordanian man was thought to have information about top Al-Qaeda members, including the whereabouts of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the organisation's number two.

In fact, the Central Intelligence Agency was so enthusiastic about the information Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi might offer that top officials at the CIA and White House were told he was being brought to Afghanistan for a meeting.
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The Times reported that Balawi's background as a radical Islamist was known to both Jordanian and US intelligence but that the two agencies believed he had been persuaded to turn on his former colleagues.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100106/pl_afp/afghanistanunrestusjordanqaedaintelligence