Filed at 3:55 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. senator asked the White House
to explain how and why the name of an al Qaeda informant was
leaked to the press, amid concerns it had hurt the war on
terror, a letter from the lawmaker showed on Monday.
A Pakistani intelligence source said on Friday that U.S.
officials confirmed the name of captured al Qaeda suspect
Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan while he was still cooperating with
Pakistani authorities as part of a sting operation against
Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
It is not clear who originally disclosed Khan's name, which
first appeared in The New York Times last Monday and was then
confirmed by U.S. officials.
His unmasking triggered criticism across the political
spectrum, as well as speculation about the motives behind the
leak. Security and terrorism are top issues for both parties in
this year's U.S. presidential elections.
``I respectfully request an explanation ... of who leaked
this Mr. Khan's name, for what reason it was leaked, and
whether ... reports that this leak compromised future
intelligence activity are accurate,'' Sen. Charles Schumer, a
Democrat from New York, wrote in a letter to White House
domestic security adviser Frances Townsend on Aug. 8.
A copy of the letter was obtained by Reuters on Monday.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan suggested at a news
briefing on Monday that making the name public was
inappropriate, but gave no details on how it happened or the
repercussions it might have.
``It is important that we recognize that sometimes there are
ongoing operations under way. And as we move forward on
capturing or bringing to justice al Qaeda members, we need to
keep that in mind,'' he said.
PONDERING MOTIVES
Information from computer expert Khan led the United States
to issue a high alert at financial institutions against a
possible al Qaeda attack earlier this month, and led Britain to
arrest 12 al Qaeda suspects.
Terrorism experts said the reasons for the release of
Khan's name could range from a judgment error to a
sophisticated ploy designed to put al Qaeda on edge about the
extent to which the network has been infiltrated by moles.
Leon Fuerth, Vice President Al Gore's former national
security adviser, said: ``I can't imagine that this produces any
other consequence than to shoot us in the foot'' in terms of
undermining a sting operation, scaring off future informants
and hurting future intelligence cooperation with allies.
One former senior U.S. intelligence official said he
suspected a political motive.
``I don't think that the U.S. intelligence community has
shown enough creativity over the last few years for anyone to
think of anything as smart as misdirection, or trying to send
signals to al Qaeda,'' he said.
Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia also questioned
the release of Khan's name on television on Sunday, saying: ``In
this situation, in my view, they should have kept their mouth
shut and just said, 'We have information, trust us.'''
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice said it was a
hard line to draw between giving the public too much or too
little information about terrorist threats.
``We did not, of course, publicly disclose his name,'' Rice
said on Sunday, adding that it had been given ``on background.''
Khan's capture was part of a Pakistani crackdown, which
began a month ago and has dealt al Qaeda a major blow.