NSA intercepted scientist communication with Algerain al Qaeda

Guardian:

A French physicist arrested last week while working at the world's largest atom smasher has told investigators he corresponded over the internet with a contact in north Africa's al-Qaida branch, a judicial official said today.

The exchange vaguely discussed plans for terror attacks, but nothing concrete was planned, the French official said, speaking on condition that his name not be used because the investigation is ongoing. The 32-year-old Frenchman of Algerian origin was one of more than 7,000 scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. He and his brother were taken into custody Thursday in south-eastern French city of Vienne.

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US monitors picked up the exchange between the scientist and his contact in the militant group, known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. The north African group regularly targets government and security forces in Algeria, and occasionally attacks foreigners.

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The intercepts appear to have led to a timely intervention that saved lives. Democrats who opposed these intercept have again been shown to put terrorist privacy rights against the rights of citizens not to be murdered in terrorist operations.