by Harold Heckle
January 16, 2010
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Spanish lawmaker's photo used for bin Laden poster Photo By AP
A Spanish lawmaker was horrified to find out the FBI used his photograph as
part of a digitally enhanced image showing what Osama bin Laden might look
like today, he said Saturday, calling into question the crime-fighting
agency's credibility in battling terrorism.
Gaspar Llamazares of the United Left party said he would no longer feel safe
traveling to the United States after his hair and facial wrinkles were taken
from the Internet and appeared on a wanted poster updating the U.S.
government's 1998 photo of the al-Qaida leader.
"I was surprised and angered because it's the most shameless use of a real
person to make up the image of a terrorist," Llamazares said at a news
conference Saturday. "It's almost like out of a comedy if it didn't deal
with matters as serious as bin Laden and citizens' security."
The FBI said in a statement Saturday that it was aware of the similarities
between their age-progressed image,
"and that of an existing photograph of a
Spanish public official."
"The forensic artist was unable to find suitable features among the
reference photographs and obtained those features, in part, from a
photograph he found on the Internet," the statement sent to The Associated
Press said.
The photo appeared on a U.S. State Department Web site
rewardsforjustice.net,
where a reward of up to $25 million is offered for bin Laden, wanted in the
Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and
Kenya. The FBI said the photo of bin Laden will be removed from the Web
site.
Llamazares said he planned to ask the U.S. government for an explanation and
reserved the right to take legal action.
The State Department told a reporter to call back Tuesday after the U.S.
federal Martin Luther King Day holiday on Monday.
Llamazares said he couldn't believe it when he was first told about the
similarity, but he quickly realized the seriousness of the situation.
The 52-year-old politician said he would not feel safe traveling in the U.S.
now, because many airports use
biometrics technology that compares the
physical characteristics of travelers to passport or other photographs.
"I have no similarity, physically or ideologically, to the terrorist bin
Laden," he said.
They do share one characteristic - both are 52.
Jose Morales, spokesman for Llamazares' party, told the Associated Press
that no one in Spain had any idea that important security computer images
such as the retouched bin Laden photo were built up from photographs of real
people.
Llamazares, the former leader of his party, was elected to Spain's
parliament in 2000.
"A technician has cut and paste in Photoshop a photograph he found out there
on the Internet, and you don't have to be in Quantico - the agency's
Virginia training facility - to do that," Morales told the AP.
Llamazares said it was worrying to see elite security services like the FBI
resorting to such sloppy techniques, especially in the light of recent
security alerts like the attempted
Christmas Day bombing of a Detroit-bound
airplane.
"It might provoke mirth, but it demonstrates that what we're seeing from
security services isn't exactly recommendable," he said.
Bin Laden is believed to be hiding in the lawless Pakistan frontier
bordering Afghanistan. His exact whereabouts have been unknown since late
2001, when he and some bodyguards slipped out of the Tora Bora mountains,
evading air strikes, U.S. special forces and Afghan militias.
The U.S. State Department Web site shows the photos and bounty on bin Laden
and 41 others wanted for terrorism.
Morales said Llamazares had received calls from Spain's Prime, Foreign and
Interior ministers, all expressing their concern and assuring him the
government would ask the U.S. for explanations.
'La Seguridad de Bin Laden No Peligra, Pero La Mía Sí'
por
Agustín Yanel
16 Enero 2010
del Sitio Web
ElMundo
A la izda., el 'retrato robot' de Osama bin Laden; a la dcha., Gaspar
Llamazares.
Gaspar Llamazares se ha tomado "muy en serio" la utilización que ha hecho el
FBI de una fotografía suya para realizar un retrato robot del probable
aspecto de Osama bin Laden en la actualidad.
"Sería cómica, si no afectara a
la seguridad y la libertad de los ciudadanos", ha declarado a un grupo de
periodistas en la sede de Izquierda Unida.
El diputado y ex coordinador general de IU ha afirmado que hasta ahora tenía
reticencias para viajar a EE.UU., pero que a partir de este momento no irá a
ese país, porque si lo hace "tendría dificultades".
"La seguridad de Bin
Laden no peligra, pero la mía sí", ha comentado.
Lo más preocupante de este
asunto, según ha dicho, es que esta manera de utilizar fotografías afecta,
"a
personas que no están incursas en ningún proceso judicial ni han cometido
delito".
"Demuestra el escaso nivel y las manos en las que está la seguridad", ha
indicado.
La pregunta clave, en su opinión, es ésta:
"¿Qué hace la foto de
un dirigente político en los archivos del FBI?"
"Espero que sea el fruto de
una casualidad, que demuestre incompetencia", ha añadido, "porque, si no
fuese así, demostraría mala fe y sería mucho más grave".
Una vez que un portavoz del FBI ha admitido a ELMUNDO.es que han utilizado
la fotografía de Llamazares para confeccionar el retrato robot del
terrorista más buscado del mundo - porque al especialista encargado de
realizarlo no le gustaban los rostros y pelo que tenían en su base de datos
-
el diputado de IU va a pedir al Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores español que
exija explicaciones al Gobierno de EE.UU.
Y espera que también intervenga el Ministerio del Interior con la policía
europea, para comprobar si la fotografía ha sido extraída de Google o se
encontraba en los archivos del FBI.
El Gobierno pedirá explicaciones a
EE.UU.
Esta mañana, después de conocer la noticia que ayer desveló elmundo.es, el
presidente del Gobierno, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, y los
ministros de
Asuntos Exteriores, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, y del Interior, Alfredo Pérez
Rubalcaba, han telefoneado a Gaspar Llamazares para mostrarle su solidaridad.
Los tres expresaron al diputado y ex coordinador general de Izquierda Unida
(IU) la sorpresa que les ha producido saber que el FBI ha utilizado una
fotografía de Llamazares para elaborar un retrato robot del aspecto actual
que podría tener el terrorista saudita
Osama bin Laden.
También le dijeron que el Gobierno va a solicitar explicaciones a las
autoridades de Estados Unidos, para saber cómo es posible que se haya podido
producir este hecho. Llamazares no ha recibido ninguna explicación ni una
llamada del embajador de EE.UU. en Madrid, y cree que "es lo mínimo que podía
hacer".
Los servicios jurídicos de Izquierda Unida van a estudiar lo
ocurrido para decidir si llevan a cabo alguna denuncia judicial en defensa
del derecho al honor y la imagen del diputado.
El dirigente del PP Esteban González Pons ha afirmado a ELMUNDO.es que se
trata de un asunto "serio" que merece "un gesto de protesta" por parte del
Gobierno ante las autoridades estadounidenses, informa Carmen Remírez de
Ganuza.
"Si no fuera tan serio, sonaría a broma", ha dicho en la
Interparlamentaria del PP en Palma.