U.S. official: Bin Laden communicated with Yemen-based terror group (AQAP)

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN) -- Materials taken from Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan confirm that the al Qaeda leader communicated with the Yemen-based group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, according to a U.S. official familiar with the ongoing U.S. analysis of the documents.

It is not clear whether that group ever received the communications or if it acted upon them, said the official, who could not be named due to the sensitivity of the intelligence information.

The United States is still trying to determine if the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, American-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, was in direct communication with bin Laden. Washington considers the Yemen-based group a very active wing of al Qaeda. Several attempted bombing plots targeting the United States -- including the unsuccessful Times Square bombing of 2010 and the attempt to blow up courier planes with explosives hidden in printer cartridges -- were hatched in Yemen.

The search through bin Laden's materials, which were recovered after the al Qaeda leader was killed in a May 2 raid on his compound by U.S. Navy SEALs, has also found direct evidence that while in hiding in Pakistan, bin Laden was involved in planning attacks.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/17/bin.laden.investigation/index.html

but it's the same old story. A U.S. official could not confirm or deny the allegations due to the sensitivity of the intelligence information.

Same U.S official could not confirm that the spaceshuttle Columbia took off from the Kennedy Space Center, Mondy, May 16, 2011 due to not having authorization from superiors.


If they have information they should keep their damn mouths shut and go about arresting the terrorists. Instead of blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So I read this piece and figure they've got a good bead on al-Awlaki, and his days are numbered.

Hanging a little info out like this serves as a warning to him, perhaps a chance to show up at a consulate with his hands in the air; and as prep for us, the American Public, in case he doesn't show up at a consulate with his hands in the air, and he gets taken in/out.

We in this country forget -- probably because it happened in a UK court -- al-Awlaki was pretty much found to be responsible for plotting the British Airways bombing. Anyone who followed Rajib Karim's trial knows al-Awlaki's emails revealed an operational, not just cheerleading, role.

But no one on this side of the planet seems to have. I read Americans all the time who seem to think he's just some dude on YouTube. I'll bet no one (else) on DU who isn't from England has ever even heard of Roshonara Choudhry.

So instead, we have to go with "Hey, look, he's in Osama's rolodex." :eyes: