As the chiefs of ASIO and the AFP appear before the Haneef inquiry, someone appears to be leaking information in support of the stance taken by Keelty, O'Sullivan and Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews.

At the same time as, the Brisbane Courier Mail  has managed to "obtain" information exchanged between the head of UK conterterrorisim and the London branch of the AFP, the London Daily Telegraph is whipping up the dirty bomb fear in the lead-up to September 11.

{Courier-Mail extract [1]]

The Immigration Department is understood to have briefed its former minister Kevin Andrews on the matter after being informally advised by Australian Federal Police.

The AFP has refused to confirm or deny whether the material was found on Gold Coast-based Dr Ali's computer or what information was passed on to immigration officials.

[It is understood a senior immigration official was told Dr Ali's laptop computer allegedly contained an X-ray of a backpack and the photographs and dimensions of car boots

 

Thanks.. it all makes sense now...Haneef was locked up because his mate was a car bomb designerthat was helping UK Jihad. Actually, this reminds me of those photos of Haneef's fridge, showing how he obviously left in a hurry.

Anyway, the piece concludes:

Crime and Misconduct Commission top investigator Stephen Lambrides last year questioned Dr Ali about the evidence against him, which was probably passed on to the AFP.

The allegations come as The Courier-Mail has obtained a document between the head of Counter Terrorism Division in London and an AFP official in London, revealing the concern UK authorities had about information being revealed about Operation Rain.

"I therefore have very grave concerns about a document of this type being released to the media in Australia," the letter said. "I have no objection to the publication of the names of the (UK) individuals charged, what they are charged with, that the charge relates to the incidents in Glasgow and London, that the vehicles were VBIEDS (Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device) and that Haneef is related to one of the defendants."

It is understood that it was demands from the UK authorities that prevented Australian authorities from revealing more information about the charges against Dr Haneef.

Okay, they've got a piece of British intelligence information that migh (unconfirmed) have been passed to the AFP, who might (unconfirmed) have passed it to Immigration, who might (unconfirmed) have passed it to iAndrews.  The insinuated conclusion?  This "might" (unconfirmed) be the "secret information" that Andrews said he couldn't talk about.

The only trouble, Kevin, is that it's not information about Haneef, but of the other bloke.   Maybe also that there isn't one publicly confirmed link in the chain by which you could have received the information.

Meanwhile, in London,  various unidentified government and defence folk are apparently  leaking like anonymous sieves to the Tele in order to warn Britons of the suddenly increased likelihood of a "dirty bomb" attack

[extract]

Islamist terrorists have stepped up their efforts to develop a "dirty" bomb for use against Western targets, senior security sources have told the Daily Telegraph.

They are exploiting political chaos in Pakistan [2] in an attempt to acquire nuclear material for a "spectacular" attack.

At least one plot has been uncovered involving Pakistan-based terrorists planning a dirty strike against a major European target.

Al Qaeda, whose terrorist infrastructure is based in Waziristan province, northwest Pakistan, is known to be trying to acquire nuclear technology to attack the West. Other Islamist groups, such as the newly-formed Pakistani Taliban, have shown interest in making weapons with nuclear capability, Western security officials said.

Security chiefs fear instability in Pakistan will make it easier for them to do so.

Pakistan is the only Muslim country with a nuclear arsenal, which was developed in the 1990s by the rogue scientist Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan.

He was placed under house arrest after being accused of selling the blueprint for Pakistan's atom bomb to states such as Libya, North Korea, and Iran. But the restrictions on Dr. Khan's detention have been eased since President Musharraf [3] was forced from power.

 

What's the bet that we're going to find out that Haneef's mate was fixing the backpacks for the Pakis  to pack with dirty bombs. You can see that one coming a mile off, most likely slated for publication on Thursday.

The year before last  the days before September 11 were those of the thwarting of the"gelbombers". This showed us why we could only take some liquids onto planes in certain ways.   Will UK publicity of an averted "dirty bomb" attack be a cattalyst for similarly international radiological security implementation?. Or are all these stores merely to get Kevin Andrews off the hook? 

The Telegraph/Sun piece concludes with this pearler:

"Islamist militant groups want to carry out terror attacks on a massive scale, and there is no better way for them to achieve that objective than to develop some form of primitive nuclear device," a senior American security official said.

In a dirty bomb, conventional explosives are fitted with radioactive material.

Security experts believe the detonation of such a device in a city such as London would provoke widespread panic and chaos, even though the area of contamination would be relatively small.

Western security officials said they had uncovered evidence that a Pakistani based group was planning to attack a European target with such a device, although details have not been made public

It's amazing how  the Courier-Mail and the international Murdoch pieces have near-equal levels of qualification.

It's too early in the election cycle forOsama to make an appearance ('05,'07...  perhaps he works alternate years?) but a UK dirty bomb scare around 9/11 coiuld finally get this ball rolling for the necons to go get these bastards before they leave office.

The unsubstantiated fearmongering in these pieces is an insult to the intelligence of the UK/US/Australian citizenry proportiate to the "Filipino Monkey" puppet show. Sadly, some will be duped.  Let's hope not too many.

I'll be watching the international  Murdoch press with great interest this week.

Afterword:  As I was putting this piece together, AP [4] were posting the news from tthe UK that the 2006 gel-bomb suspects have been convicted of terrorism conspiracy.  However  " the jury could not reach a verdict on allegations they plotted to use liquid explosives to down trans-Atlantic airliners."  Another remake bites the dust.