] Chilling details of al Qaeda's secret communications
] system - and the possibility of widespread knowledge that
] the devastating attacks on New York and Washington were
] in the works - were unveiled in a courtroom in Milan,
] where a group of Islamic militants are on trial for
] supporting al Qaeda's terrorist activities.
]
] According to reports in the Corriere della Sera newspaper
] and on ABC News' Web site, the secret communications were
] discovered during a November 2001 raid on the Via
] Quaranta mosque in Milan, where police confiscated 11
] computers.

] Investigators believe cell members were using a process
] called stenography, in which special software allows a
] text message to be hidden inside a small part of a
] computer photograph.

Note: "inspectors believe" does not mean that Al Qaeda *was* using this form of crypto, so this may just be more reporting of the unfounded rumors. Also, it's *steganography*, not *stenography*. (sigh)

If anyone can find the actual trial transcripts online (even if they're only in Italian), I'd be very interested in seeing them.

New York Post: Milan trial mentions Al Qaeda and steganography