One of the most effective terrorist hunters - tracking the Al Qaeda as well as those crossing the border from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir - is in fact a woman, a mom, who locates them via Internet, changing her name frequently.

Referred to by her spymasters only as 'Mrs Galt', she is by day an unremarkable American housewife and mother. But after her two children go to bed, she plunges into a secret world of Internet chat rooms and Web sites populated by some of the most dangerous terrorists.

Burrowing into the Byzantine network of unpublicized web sites used by Al Qaeda and other terror groups for their routine communications, she sweet-talks her interlocutors into revealing their plans, often with fatal consequences for the terrorists, The Washington Post, which conducted an e-mail interview with the online spy, reported on Tuesday.

They have no idea that their supportive new 'sister' is a terrorist hunter reporting every word they say to a variety of intelligence agencies. She is so trusted by her unsuspecting targets that they often send her pictures of themselves displaying heavy machine guns and other weapons. She has even been sent pictures of men proudly displaying severed human heads, the Post said.

Her most recent venture - penetrating Al Qaeda affiliated groups in Pakistan - is said to have resulted in the death and detention of several terrorists. Others are still at large, making it necessary to keep her real name and hometown secret.

The results of her latest exploits, including transcripts of her chats with suspects, have been placed on a Web site for all to see at www.pakistan-army-isi.com.

Despite the name, the site has no connection to the Pakistani army or its Inter Services Intelligence.

Among the intelligence coups by Mrs Galt include a revelation that terrorist groups in Pakistan have been conducting experiments with chemical weapons.

Members of one group were asked in an 'urgent appeal' to track down the formula for making chlorine gas.

Other information she has provided include details of a string of bank accounts used by militant groups, which have shed valuable light on how these groups are funded.

Not everything she hears is reliable or can be confirmed. She has also been told by her Web correspondents that Osama bin Laden is being sheltered by Islamist rebels in Chechnya.

"I would have loved to have seen the terrorists when they saw the messages on the Web," Mrs Galt, 42, said in the online interview.

"All I can do is hope that some of the terrorists I talked to get picked up. After all, they are not terrorists until a court says they are."

Mrs Galt is an example of a new breed of cyber-savvy ordinary citizens who want to 'do their bit' by putting their computer skills to use in fighting terrorism.

She reports to London-based private intelligence consultant Glen Jenvey, who makes his research available to government services, including the US's Federal Bureau of Investigation and the military intelligence agencies of Russia and India.

PTI