Last week's serious terror threat, which shut down embassies across the Middle East and Northern Africa, was reportedly triggered by an intercepted conference call that took place between several prominent leaders of the Al Qaeda terrorist organization.
The call, which included al Qaeda’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, as well as Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen, was intercepted by U.S. security officials and prompted the closing of the embassies, after the terrorist leaders discussed imminent attacks against American targets.
“This was like a meeting of the Legion of Doom,” one U.S. intelligence officer told The Daily Beast, referencing Super Friends. The call included more than 20 al Qaeda operatives.
Details about the call appear to have been deliberately leaked by U.S. intelligence in an attempt to show the origins of the terror alert, as well as remind everyone that we should be glad the U.S. is listening to phone calls (we know). The Daily Beast writes that "Al Qaeda leaders had assumed the conference calls, which give Zawahiri the ability to manage his organization from a remote location, were secure. But leaks about the original intercepts have likely exposed the operation that allowed the U.S. intelligence community to listen in on the al Qaeda board meetings." Oh well! At least poor Tina Brown caught a break this week.
