Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Cell phone data trail betrays caller

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 20:11:22 -0500

Kenya

Cell phone data trail betrays caller

Using cell phone location data, an international collection of secret
agents hunted down a Kurdish political fugitive and sent him back to
Turkey where he faced the death penalty.

Turkish special service agents captured Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
leader Abdullah Ocalan after his cell phone call locations were allegedly
tracked by U.S., British, and Israeli intelligence agents.
Ocalan was captured in Kenya in
1999 after taking refuge in the
Greek Embassy in Nairobi.
Ocalan had been in hiding since
being expelled from Syria in the
late 90's. His whereabouts had
been a closely guarded secret until
his capture. The US claims it did not
take part in the apprehension and
transfer of Ocalan. But critics believe persistent reports that the US
intercepted his cell phone conversations at the embassy and passed on
the information to Turkey.

Abdullah Ocalan has been a controversial figure since taking up the
cause of an independent Kurdistan in the 1970s when he founded the
PKK. With its ideology based on a mixture of nationalism and
Marxism-Leninism, the PKK had been fighting a bloody war for an
independent Kurdish state for 16 years. Ocalan called for a ceasefire
after his capture. 30,000 people are estimated to have died during the
campaign.

To some Kurds, Ocalan is a heroic freedom fighter. To others - and to the
governments of Turkey and the US - he has been branded a ruthless
terrorist.

The history of the Kurds in the 20th century is one of repression,
violence, forced resettlement, and manipulation by powerful countries.
Kurdish groups in Iraq and Turkey have been backed by Iran and Syria.
Iraqi Kurds in particular have been financed, trained and armed by the US
and Israel.

In one of his most infamous acts of violence, Saddam Hussein used
mustard gas to kill 5000 Kurds at Halabja in Iraq in 1988.
With a population of between twenty and twenty five million, the Kurds
are the largest stateless population in the world. Their historical lands
cover parts of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and south east Turkey. The Kurdish
people are not united by language or religion, though most are Sunni
Muslim. Three million Kurds now live in Istanbul.

After he was expelled from Syria, Ocalan moved frequently and was
unable to find a country that would provide him with safe political asylum.
The circumstances of his final days at the Greek Embassy in Nairobi are
murky, subject to conflicting stories and persistent rumours about how
he was located. Shortly after his capture, the New York Times published a
report citing unnamed US sources which claimed that his cell phone
activity was tracked by intelligence agents from the US, Britain and Israel.
They reportedly turned over the information to the Turkish government,
which then sent a team of commandos to Nairobi to capture Ocalan with
the help of Kenyan personnel. Ocalan was taken back to Turkey and
imprisoned.

Ocalan was sentenced to death in 1999, but his execution was stayed in
2000 pending a decision by the European Court of Human Rights about
whether he had received a fair trial in Turkey. Ocalan issued a written
statement from his prison cell stating that he now believes the PKK's
fight for an independent Kurdish state was a "historic mistake".
In October of 2002, Abdullah Ocalan's death sentence was lifted as part
of Turkey's campaign to join the European Union. Turkey had promised to
abolish the death penalty and pass reforms that meet the EU's standard
of human rights. Ocalan's sentenced has been commuted to life in prison.

http://www.seeingisbelieving.ca/cell/kenya/
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