Listening inAl-Qaeda plea deal details communication methods
Last week Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri entered a plea deal in Illinois in which he admitted to entering the United States on 10 September 2001 in order to form a sleeper cell for future terrorist activities; plea details Al-Qaeda’s communication methods
Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri pleaded guilty last Thursday in Illinois to conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaeda. He is the only person ever arrested on U.S. soil and labeled an “enemy combatant” and an al-Qaeda “sleeper agent.” In pleading guilty, Marri admits to entering the United States on 10 September 2001 with the purpose of carrying out future terrorist attacks.
One of the revelations in Marri’s plea deal concerns the relatively low-tech tools he planned to use to conduct his nefarious activities. These included a Hotmail account, pre-paid phone cards, public pay phones, Web search engines, and rather simplistic codes. The New York Times has published al-Marri’s plea deal, which details the organization’s communication methods.
