CIA thought Afghan bomber had flipped

[unhappycamper]

CIA thought Afghan bomber had flipped
By Adam Goldman and Pamela Hess - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 5, 2010 6:39:15 EST

WASHINGTON — Intelligence officials thought they had “flipped” him. The Jordanian-born doctor who had gained a reputation for his online messages in favor of jihad in Afghanistan now claimed he had urgent information to share with CIA officers about al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenant.

Once his debriefing began inside Camp Chapman, a tightly secured CIA forward base in Khost province on the fractious Afghan-Pakistan frontier, the double agent revealed his true mission by detonating the explosive vest he was wearing. The blast last Wednesday killed seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer, and injured six other CIA personnel.

A former senior U.S. intelligence official and a foreign government official confirmed Monday that the suicide bomber, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, 36, of Zarqa, Jordan, had been invited to Camp Chapman. Zarqa is the hometown of slain al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. NBC News first reported the bomber’s identity.

A second former U.S. intelligence official identified the dead as four CIA officers and three contracted security guards with the American spy agency and a Jordanian intelligence officer, Ali bin Zaid. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the incident.

Al-Balawi was arrested more than a year ago by Jordanian intelligence, NBC News reported. He was invited to Camp Chapman because he was offering urgent information to track down Ayman al-Zawahri, bin Laden’s right-hand man.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_afghanistan_cia_attack_010510/