Pakistani intelligence sources are accusing the Bush administration of undermining its fight against Al Qaeda by leaking the name of a recently detained Al Qaeda member to the press while the man was still working as an undercover double agent. The name of computer expert Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan first appeared in the press last week. Unnamed US officials leaked his name to the press in an attempt of the Bush administration to defend the heightened terror threat level.

What the US didn’t reveal was that Khan had been working under cover to help authorities track Al Qaeda members in Britain and the United States. Once his name appeared in the press, the British police had to hastily round up suspects that had been in contact with Khan. At least five wanted men went on the run as soon as Khan’s arrest become public. A security expert at Jane’s Defense told Reuters “The whole thing smacks of either incompetence or worse. You have to ask: what are they doing compromising a deep mole within al Qaeda, when it’s so difficult to get these guys in there in the first place?” The expert went on to say “Running agents within a terrorist organization is the Holy Grail of intelligence agencies. And to have it blown is a major setback which negates months and years of work, which may be difficult to recover.”