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Friday 10 June 2011

Laden files give new focus to war on terror

WASHINGTON: Everyone Osama bin Laden ever wrote to, spoke to or even mentioned in the volumes of correspondence seized from his Pakistan hideout is under new scrutiny, American officials say.

Surveillance has been stepped up on possible terrorist targets around the world, as intelligence experts near the end of decrypting and translating material seized from the bin Laden compound.

The trove of material has helped fill in the blanks on how known al-Qaida operatives work and think, and where they fit in the organisation.

The CIA and other US counterterror agencies have sharpened their focus on some midlevel members of the group who they now believe may be more important than originally thought, after reading their exchanges with their fallen leader.

The al-Qaida terrorists are keenly aware the United States is watching, and one official said at least two changed travel plans to avoid becoming the target of another Navy SEAL raid or any such counter-terrorism op.

The increased surveillance is the result of five weeks of round-the-clock work by a CIA-led team of data analysts, cyber experts and translators.

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