Voices of Pak-based terrorists identified

US issues terrorism alert for travel to Europe

UK’s top communication and intelligence agency has identified some of the terrorists in the recently unravelled plot in which at least 20 young British Muslims were being trained at al-Qaeda terror camps in Pakistan to launch Mumbai-style attacks in Europe.

The Government Communications Headquarters, Britain’s electronic eavesdropping centre popularly known as GCHQ, identified some of these terrorists, “The Sunday Times” reported but did not name anyone.

The centre, based in Cheltenham, intercepted telephone calls made by British militants at a training camp in the tribal borders of Pakistan to identify the suspects.

Matching their voice prints allowed the security services to trace their connections to other individuals in their network.

An important aspect of GCHQ’s work is the analysis of voice prints, a technique that can identify a voice speaking on a telephone in Afghanistan or Pakistan by matching it against a databank of suspects held by GCHQ. “You pick up a voice and if you find a match for it in the database, you can get a name. Then you get the call data and see who the guy has been calling,” one expert said.

The method was apparently used to pick up “credible” intelligence of the plan for simultaneous attacks by British and foreign insurgents against several European cities.
An MI5 surveillance operation began tracking potential suspects in London and northwest England earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the United States issued an alert on Sunday urging Americans travelling to Europe to be vigilant about possible terrorist attacks in a statement that specifically cites the potential involvement of al-Qaida.

The decision to caution travellers comes as counter-terrorism officials in Europe and the United States are assessing intelligence about possible plots originating in Pakistan and North Africa aimed at Britain, France and Germany.

A travel alert merely urges extra caution during a specific time and does not discourage Americans from visiting Europe. An American official who confirmed the warning on Saturday, who did not want to be identified speaking about internal government deliberations, said a stronger “travel warning” that might advise Americans not to visit Europe was not under consideration.

European officials have been concerned about the impact on tourism and student travel from any official guidance to American travellers.

“Current information suggests that al-Qaida and affiliated organisations continue to plan terrorist attacks. European governments have taken action to guard against a terrorist attack,” according to the statement.