Beware the FBI's "high-tech imaging techniques"

[fukuda 351]

FBI admits Spanish politician was model for 'high-tech' Osama bin Laden photo-fit

The FBI has admitted using a photograph of a bearded Spanish politician as the basis for a mocked-up photofit image showing how Osama Bin Laden might look now.

By Fiona Govan in Madrid

Published: 3:24PM GMT 16 Jan 2010

The US state department was forced to withdraw the mocked up photo-image, circulated around the world last week, after the discovery that it was not quite as technically sophisticated as the FBI had originally claimed.

The digitally altered image of an older and greying Bin Laden was meant to show how the world's most wanted terrorist might now look without his trademark turban and long beard. It was released in a renewed effort to locate him, more than eight years after the September 11 attack which he ordered and directed.

But it created an unexpected stir in Madrid when a Spanish MP recognised strong elements of himself in the image and complained to the US.

Gaspar Llamazares, 52, a member of Spain's communist party and the former leader of the United Left coalition in parliament, said his forehead, hair and jaw-line had been "cut and pasted" from an old campaign photograph.

The FBI claimed to have used "cutting edge" technology to reproduce new images of 18 of the most wanted terrorist suspects for the State Department's Rewards for Justice website.

But yesterday Ken Hoffman, a spokesman the FBI, admitted that a technician "was not satisfied" with the hair features offered by the FBI's software programme and instead used part of a photo of Mr Llamazares, found on the internet. "The technican had no idea whose image he had found and no dark motive for using it," he said.

Mr Llamazares said the mistake showed the "low level" of US intelligence services. It could cause problems for any individual mistakenly seen to resemble the wanted terrorist, he said. "Bin Laden's safety is not threatened by this but mine certainly is."

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Llamazares (center), "Bin Laden" (right) and "Atiyah Abd al Rahman" (left)

Yes, they also used Llamazares's pic to shoop Atiyah's face, you can still see the shoop in the FBI site before they take it down

That's cutting edge technology, indeed. Using PS's cutter tool

[Vahr 341]

Oh wow, even I could do it then!

And it was technically cutting edge back in 2001

[Jamonbread 222]

Wow sucks to be that guy!

[Patricius Maximus 236]

Oh, well. Guess that that picture won't be of much use searching for Osama. But you have to admit, it was interesting to see one of those pictures of a gray-haired man with an Osama bin Laden look .

And it also figures they'd have to use the picture of a communist.

[Duke87 1,070]

The internet: no photoshop mistakes left unexposed.

[fukuda 351]

Originally posted by: Patricius Maximus

And it also figures they'd have to use the picture of a communist.quote>

Well,  no one seriously believes that they somehow found his picture on google by mere bad luck... That's a big part of the mess, actually.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I'd say the FBI must be getting desperate. Maybe they should have checked with CSIS. They might have a recent picture of the old boy. It is also possible the old bounder is deceased. "The evil the men do lives after them, so let it be with Bin Laden." with apologies to the Bard of Avon.