FBI opens Saudi’s iPhone to tie him to attack

The FBI cracked the iPhone encryption of the Royal Saudi Air Force trainee who killed three American sailors in a December attack at a US naval base in Florida and found evidence linking him to al Qaida, attorney-general William Barr said on Monday.

The shooter, Second Lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, 21, was killed by law enforcement during the Decemebr 6, 2019, attack. He was on the base as part of a US Navy training programme designed to foster links with foreign allies.

The justice department succeeded in unlocking the encryption on the shooter’s iPhone after Apple Inc declined to do so, Barr told reporters on a conference call.

”The information from the phone has already proved invaluable,” Barr said.