Pakistan Claims Sting Operation Compromised After U.S. Prematurely Released Name of Terrorist Operative
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Are you kidding me? Look at that blue sky. This is a Willie Nelson kind of day. I say that when Soledad is here; it's a blue-sky kind of day.</s>DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just for Soledad?</s>HEMMER: Well, no, I say it for you, Daryn.</s>KAGAN: Thank you. I just checked in with her. She's doing fine.</s>HEMMER: Yes, is she?</s>KAGAN: She's doing good. She's hanging in there.</s>HEMMER: She's resting?</s>KAGAN: We trade e-mail because she's bored.</s>HEMMER: Yes. Can we say she's days away, or not?</s>KAGAN: Hopefully not.</s>HEMMER: Yes?</s>KAGAN: I mean, she's trying to stretch it.</s>HEMMER: Oh, I see.</s>KAGAN: Yes, literally.</s>HEMMER: This is Daryn Kagan, working for Soledad. Now you're updated on everything that's going on around here. Great to have you here in New York.</s>KAGAN: Good to be here.</s>HEMMER: Coming up in the next 30 minutes here, some of the latest news, the arrest of the two men in Albany, New York, accused of helping terrorists. The story broke on Thursday of last week. They were caught in a government sting, we're told. We'll talk to a lawyer for one of the men who say this was just a case of entrapment, so that's coming up in a few moments here.</s>KAGAN: Also we are "Paging Dr. Gupta" -- soy has been a super food and a cure-all. It's been called that, at least. Dr. Gupta now has a little reality check for us, and that is coming up. Meanwhile, though, want to check in on Pakistan. It claims it has a sting operation that was compromised after the U.S. prematurely released the name of a terrorist operative. Pakistan is reportedly worried that al Qaeda might retaliate. Our Maria Ressa reports from Islamabad.</s>MARIA RESSA, JAKARTA BUREAU CHIEF: Over the weekend, another al Qaeda operative was arrested in Dubai and sent to Pakistan, part of an ongoing global crackdown which led to increased security in the U.S. and U.K. It was spurred by a treasure-trove of information discovered after the July 13 arrest of computer expert Naeem Noor Khan. Authorities here said he was working with them as a mole to help track down other al Qaeda operatives around the world, compromised after the U.S. prematurely released its name last week.</s>SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D) NEW YORK: Haider, the Pakistani interior minister, actually said --maybe -- of Khan's name -- if it hadn't been released it might have led to getting bin Laden himself.</s>RESSA: But U.S. officials say they had a duty to warn about possible pre-election plots against the</s>U.S. CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The problem is that when you're trying to strike a balance between giving enough information to the public so that they know that you're dealing with a specific, credible, different kind of threat than you've dealt with in the past, you're always weighing that against kind of operational considerations.</s>RESSA: There are other irritants to the Pakistanis. Last week, a U.S. official warned of possible al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan, a charge officials here vehemently deny.</s>SHEIKH RASHID AHMED, PAKISTANI INFO. MINISTER: This is a</s>RESSA: Since 9/11, Pakistan says it's doing all it can in the war on terror, including sending its armed forces into the tribal areas for the first time ever to hunt for al Qaeda. Pakistan says it has arrested nearly 600 al Qaeda members. Now al Qaeda is striking back with increased bombings and targeted attacks. Two assassination attempts against Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf and just two weeks ago, a suicide bombing attack against its prime minister designate. Though questioning our commitment, now says Pakistan, even as it asked its cabinet ministers to cut down public appearances while this crackdown continues, anticipating what al Qaeda can do when its further pushed against the wall. Maria Ressa, CNN, Islamabad.</s>KAGAN: The U.S. maintains that it did the correct thing in alerting the public about the name and potential terrorist plots as the 9/11 Commission report warns. Al Qaeda is looking to inflict catastrophic damage in the country.</s>HEMMER: About 26 minutes now before the hour. Two leaders of an Albany, New York mosque were arrested last week in a government sting operation. They were charged in a plot to buy a grenade launcher to be used to assassinate a Pakistani diplomat. One of the men charged is Yassin Aref, reportedly listed as, quote, the commander in a book left behind at a vacated terrorist training camp in the country of Iraq. Terry Kindlon is the attorney for Yassin Aref.</s>HEMMER (voice-over): Why do you believe this was entrapment, sir?</s>TERENCE KINDLON, ATTORNEY FOR YASSIN AREF: This so-called crime was entirely the creation of the imagination of the FBI and an undercover informant. There is no actual crime here. What happened was that this fantastical story was made up -- it was told to, I think, two very unsuspecting individuals and they were tricked into believing that something was happening that in fact wasn't happening.</s>HEMMER: What explains then why your client was listed as commander in this terrorist training camp, a book that was found in a camp in Iraq?</s>KINDLON: Well, you know, that's an interesting question. I've heard this and the source of that information is said to be an -- an unidentified confidential government source who leaked it to the "New York Post" or somebody. I really would like very much to see the document that they're talking about. My experience with the government is that when it's holding all the cards, and it's holding them close to its chest and saying to you I have here a card that says such and such the best response for me is to be as skeptical as possible. I'd like to see what it is that they've got and see what it is they're talking about. It -- certainly it could be almost anything.</s>HEMMER: The governor of New York, George Pataki was with us on Friday. Here's how he talked about the case at this point then.</s>GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R) NEW YORK: I'm not a criminal lawyer but I think the answer is very simple. If someone comes to you and says he's a terrorist operative and he needs you to illegally get him tens of thousands of dollars so he can buy a shoulder-fired missile to kill the Pakistani ambassador, how are you going to react? If your reaction would be -- I mean, I think 99 out of 100 at least people would say this is a criminal act. They'd either turn the person in or they'd certainly say no.</s>HEMMER: That's what the governor said on Friday. How do you respond to that?</s>KINDLON: Well, first of all, I deeply resent the governor sticking his nose into a pending criminal case. He has no business doing that. He is maybe not a criminal lawyer but he certainly is a lawyer and he should know better than to use his position as the executive of the state of New York to try to influence a case. I think that he was incorrect in doing that and also just to be bipartisan about this, Charles Schumer weighed in and he had some negative things to say as well. They should know well enough to wait for the process to run its course. You know, this is a marvelous, magnificent criminal justice system that we've got and I'm confident that in the fullness of time it's going to exonerate both of these men but to have interference from people in elective office -- it really does everybody a disservice.</s>HEMMER: You met with your client the end of last week. Your impressions of him are what?</s>KINDLON: He seems like a really nice guy to me. He's a family man; he is a refugee in this country. You know, he grew up in Kurdistan, which is in northern Iraq. He fled there to Syria. Studied comparative religion while he was in that country. Married, became the father of three children to whom he's very devoted and then finally secured refugee status and was privileged to leave Syria and to immigrate to this country and when he got here through a process of church activity he was sent to Albany, New York and here he's established himself as an imam at the local mosque.</s>HEMMER: Again, Terry Kindlon earlier today, the attorney for Aref. If convicted, 70 years in prison he could face and a $750,000. Now Daryn with more.</s>KAGAN: We are just about at 38 past the hour, time for a look at some of today's other news. Carol Costello handling that -- hi, Carol.</s>CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Daryn -- thank you. Ohio police are searching for a 15-year-old Ethiopian girl who was missing after competing in the International Children's Games. Aden Alemu disappeared from her sponsoring family's home on Saturday. Family members say they overheard the young girl talking on the phone about defecting to the United States. Police believe she may have been heading to Atlanta. And in California, the search for 9-year-old David Gonzales, missing for more than a week in the San Bernardino Mountains is over. Authorities reluctantly called off the search Sunday after hundreds of deputies and volunteers failed to turn up any trace of the boy. He disappeared during a family camping trip. Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader says he'll keep trying to get on California's ballot. Officials said Nader fell short of the 153,000 signatures needed to get his name before the state voters in November. His campaign spokesman says Nader may try to run on the Green Ticket, even though the party has already chosen a candidate. And finally, it's not the hanging chads that are worrying some federal election officials come November; it's the elderly poll workers. According to U.S. election officials, cited in "U.S.A. Today," the average age of a U.S. poll worker is 72. The commission wants to minimize voting glitches this November by issuing an online tool kit and recruiting and training new volunteers. Back to you, Daryn.</s>KAGAN: All right, Carol, thank you for that.</s>KAGAN: Still ahead on AMERICAN MORNING while you might have to postpone your home improvement plans, shortages could send cement prices through the roof. We'll tell you what it will cost you.</s>HEMMER: Also having some soymilk on your cereal today perhaps? Soy products, the latest American obsession. Are we making too much of them, Daryn?</s>KAGAN: We could be, perhaps.</s>HEMMER: Sanjay has some guidance next here on AMERICAN MORNING.