Bush Team on Defensive Over al-Qaeda Leak: "the White House prematurely exposed the identity of a key source whose contacts and communication with the terrorist group's operational masterminds had yet to be fully exploited.
... British and Pakistani intelligence agencies were reportedly furious with the leak, which forced U.K. police to hurriedly round up 13 al-Qaeda suspects who are alleged to have been in email communication with Khan. Five others who were sought by MI5 reportedly escaped capture, and there is some question that the British had gathered enough evidence to persuade a judge to keep the 13 detainees in custody, according to published reports.
''The outing of Khan, probably the most important asset the U.S. has ever had inside al-Qaeda, is a huge disaster and a setback to attempts to finish off the top leadership of al-Qaeda'', according to Juan Cole, a Middle East specialist at the University of Michigan"
- posted by geoff @ #