Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Re: Al-Queada Sleeper Cells in the US

From: "marcel_rf1" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 04:18:11 -0000

--- In [email-masked], Marcel <marcelrf@b...> wrote:
> A story  should be hitting the wire (If it has not already) on how 
al Qaeda Sleeper Cells
> in the US have been purchasing
> "Disposable Cellphones" and signing up for free email accounts that 
are only used once.
> The problem here is these phones are currently Non-E 911 Phase II 
compliant. The phones
> now mask the buyers in two ways:
> 
> 1) No identification require to purchase or activate the phone.
> 
> 2) The callers exact location is now unidentifiable. (E-911 Phase I 
is still applicable)
> 
> Hop-On and others need to address these two issues immediately.
> 
> 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I did not think It would take a month for this story to hit the wires.
Better late than never........
-----------------------------------------------------------
Swiss to Name Mobile Phone Users After Qaeda Link
Wed Mar 12,11:10 AM ET
Add Technology - Reuters to My Yahoo!

ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss parliament banned anonymous pre-paid 
chips for mobile telephones on Wednesday after intelligence warnings 
that members of al Qaeda were using them to make calls without being 
traced.

Swiss law enforcement officers had warned that members of Osama bin 
Laden (news - web sites)'s al Qaeda network, which Washington blames 
for the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, were using Swiss 
pre-paid phone chips abroad.

"It is true that we said members of al Qaeda, people who work in the 
field as well as heads,...were using this kind of pre-paid card from 
Switzerland," said Claude Nicati, deputy attorney general.
Nicati said an investigation was underway to find out how many of the 
cards were being used, where and why.

Pakistan's intelligence agency has said recent arrests of al Qaeda 
members there followed telephone calls traced by a team monitoring 
satellite and mobile phone conversations of suspected terrorists.
The Swiss warning helped carry the vote in the lower house, which had 
been leaning against requiring buyers of pre-paid chips to identify 
themselves.

Critics cited a potential invasion of privacy and said users could 
simply switch to other countries that do not require names for buyers 
of the chips that operate telephone handsets.
The new law requires mobile phone operators to keep records on users 
of the chips for at least two years.
Opponents said only Germany, Italy and Hungary register users of the 
chips in Europe.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030312/tc_nm/attac
k_swiss_phones_dc_1

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---

From: Rick Parrish <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 22:43:50 -0600

>of the chips that operate telephone handsets.
Wasted effort - just more "feel-good" legislation ...
-rick

---

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 01:27:57 -0500

Looks like someone is rethinking Pre-paid

marcel_rf1 wrote:

> > SNIP>........ The phones

Switzerland to Require ID to Buy Prepaid Phone Cards

The lower house of Switzerland's parliament voted to require obtaining identification from
buyers of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards and "top up" cards that add more calling
time on cell phones. Wireless operators will be required to keep the customer information
for two years after the cards are purchased. The move to require identification was
prompted by reports that members of the al-Qaida terror group were using Swiss prepaid
calling cards because they could be purchased anonymously.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Swiss lawmakers close cell phone loophole that
investigators say helped al-Qaida
Wed Mar 12, 7:51 AM ET

By HANSPETER HAEFLIGER, Associated Press Writer

BERN, Switzerland - Switzerland's lawmakers on Wednesday voted to close a loophole that
investigators say has enabled senior leaders of al-Qaida to use Swiss cell phones to
communicate within the terrorist network.
The lower house of parliament voted 124-27 in favor of a change that will force anyone
buying a prepaid Subscriber Identity Module - or "SIM" - card to show identification,
which previously was not required. Phone companies will have to keep customer details for
two years after the card is purchased.

"The registration of users is a way of shedding some light on a shadowy, dark zone," said
lawmaker Rudolf Aeschbacher.
Attention has been focussed on Switzerland's rules since revelations last year that
al-Qaida members who took part in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States made
calls in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Pakistan using cell phones with SIM cards
bought in Switzerland. On Sunday, Deputy Federal Prosecutor Claude Nicati said
investigators also had evidence that senior members of the al-Qaida hierarchy used Swiss
cards.
Nicati did not elaborate.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office has refused to confirm speculation that Switzerland
provided information to U.S. intelligence that led to the arrest of Khalid Shaikh
Mohammed, the suspected No. 3 al-Qaida leader and Sept.  11 mastermind.
Mohammed was captured March 1 in a joint raid by Pakistani and CIA (news - web sites)
operatives on a house in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.  There have been reports that U.S.
intelligence traced a telephone call that led police to Mohammed.
This week's edition of the magazine U.S. News and World Report quoted an anonymous U.S.
intelligence official who said the National Security Agency used its Echelon surveillance
system to monitor more than 10 different cell phone numbers used by Mohammed.

Cell phones with Swiss SIM cards also are believed to be used by drug traffickers, Swiss
officials said.
A SIM card is a chip that fits in the back of a cell phone, allocating a number to the
phone until the card is changed. Prepaid cards enable cell phone users to buy a phone
number with a set amount of call time, avoiding monthly number rental charges to a phone
company.

Customers also can use "top-up cards" to buy extra call time in advance rather than being
billed later.
In Switzerland, only customers with a rental agreement currently have to give their
details.
Purchasing rules for prepaid cards vary across Europe. Identification is required in
Italy, Spain and Germany, for example, but none is needed in Britain, Greece or Sweden.

Some 2.5 million prepaid SIM cards have been sold in Switzerland - often at newsstands -
since they were introduced in 1996. The SIM card costs around 40 Swiss francs (US$30),
with the price of top-up cards ranging from 30 to 100 francs (US$22-75), depending on the
amount of call time they provide.

Police and justice officials said anonymous purchasing meant it was tough to trace calls
made using a particular card. Data protection rules mean investigators have had to open a
formal criminal inquiry in order to get access to the record of calls made from and to a
cell phone number - with no guarantee that this will lead them to the individual using the
phone.
Under the new rules, investigators still will have to launch an inquiry to get phone
records but should find it easier to track a user.

However, Pia Rogers, spokeswoman for Swisscom - the country's largest telecommunications
firm - said the change may not solve the problem.

"We doubt its effectiveness," she told The Associated Press. "Even if
someone registers they might not keep the phone and a trade in phones
might start."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030312/ap_wo_en_ge
/eu_gen_switzerland_terrorism_cell_phones_1