Cellphone recovered during Bin Laden raid yields clues to Pakistan’s terror ties (Yahoo! News)

After the raid on Osama Bin Laden's hideout, the elite squad that conducted the bold operation walked away with something possibly even more valuable than the body of the Al-Qaeda leader — his data. The operation yielded hard drives and other computer equipment, including the cellphone of one of Bin Laden's most trusted couriers. That phone could lead to answers about the most troubling question that remains: How did Bin Laden live so close to the capital of Pakistan undetected?

In the events leading up to the dramatic raid, U.S. intelligence agents watched Bin Laden's couriers closely. Eventually that intel led to the fortified compound where he was killed. Now, data collected from a courier's phone points to a relationship between the compound's inhabitants and Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen, a militant Islamic group with friendly ties to Pakistan's intelligence agency.

After the death of Bin Laden, the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan has become increasingly strained. Since the Al-Qaeda compound was conspicuously close to Pakistan's capital city, Abbottabad, the U.S. government is naturally skeptical of Pakistan's claim that it had no knowledge of the terrorist leader's whereabouts. Of course, now the plot thickens, and all eyes are on Pakistan for an explanation.

(Source)

More from Tecca:

• British agents hack al-Qaeda website, leave cupcake recipe behind
• Cellphone jammers keep our troops safe and the enemy guessing
• Man unwittingly breaks news of Bin Laden raid on Twitter

Anti Terror Police Nab Parking Attendant

Anti Terror Police Nab Parking Attendant

The 28 year-old man works as a parking attendant in a shopping center in Surakarta

 

Densus 88 raided a property in Sukoharjo, Jawa Tengah (AP Photo)

RELATED NEWS

• Ex-cop Given 10 Years on Terror Charges


• Indonesia, NZ Tie in on Terrorist Handling


• National Police Chief Fears Possible Bombing


• Top Indonesian Terror Suspect Goes on Trial


• 55 Terrorist Suspects Killed in 2010

 The Indonesian Anti Terror Police (Densus 88) arrested a parking attendant for his alleged involvement in a terrorist network. The suspect was identifed as Roki Apres Giyanto alias Antok, police said.

“The Densus 88 arrested the suspect on Tuesday morning 10 a.m in Sukoharjo county,” National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said Tuesday at the National Police Headquarters in Jakarta.

He was caught in Waru Village, Central Java. The 28 year-old man works as a parking attendant in a shopping center in Surakarta. Police said that Antok used to join a fundamentalist group called Kelompok Hisbah.

He was alleged as the mastermind of several bombing attacks in Sleman, Klaten, and Sukoharjo in December 2010.

"After the arrest, the Sukoharjo County Police secured Antok's house with police lines," Boy said.

Ex-cop Given 10 Years on Terror Charges

Ex-cop Given 10 Years on Terror Charges

The militant group was allegedly plotting Mumbai-style gun attacks on Western hotels.

 

RELATED NEWS

• Indonesia, NZ Tie in on Terrorist Handling


• National Police Chief Fears Possible Bombing


• Top Indonesian Terror Suspect Goes on Trial


• 55 Terrorist Suspects Killed in 2010


• 3 Convicted in Terror Plot in Australia

A former Indonesian policeman was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for supplying weapons to a terrorist cell allegedly plotting a series of attacks on foreigners.

Sofyan Tsauri, 34, was arrested after security forces raided a militant training camp in the westernmost province of Aceh one year ago.

Judge Dwiarso Santiarto told a district court on the outskirts of the capital that Tsauri was guilty of selling dozens of assault rifles, revolvers and other weapons to the previously unknown terrorist cell called "Al Qaida in Aceh."

The militant group was allegedly plotting Mumbai-style gun attacks on Western hotels and embassies in Jakarta.

It also allegedly wanted to assassinate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and attack security forces to punish the state for lending support to the U.S.-led anti-terrorism fight.

Tsauri, fired from the police force in 2009 on charges of desertion, bought the weapons from two officers who were working at a police warehouse, the judge said.

The two were given jail time in separate trials last week.

Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim nation of 240 million, has battled extremists since 2002, when members of the al-Qaida-linked network Jemaah Islamiyah bombed two nightclubs on the resort island of Bali, killing 202 people, most of them foreign tourists.

Since then, members of an offshoot of the group have continued to carry out near-annual strikes on various targets, including a Western embassy, beach-side restaurants and upscale hotels, killing more than 60.

Tsauri is one of more than 100 alleged members of the Aceh terrorist cell to have been captured or killed since February. His lawyers said he would appeal the verdict, which was five years less than prosecutors had sought.