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July 5, 2007

UK: Three Islamists Jailed For Internet Jihad

The three men pictured are (left to right) Tariq Al Daour, 21, Waseem Mughal, 24, and (with skin condition) Younis Tsouli, 23, have been jailed today for inciting terrorism. Daour, who lived in West London, was born in the United Arab Emirates - he was sentenced to six and a half years at Woolwich Crown Court. British-born Waseem Mughal, who lived in Chatham, Kent, was sentenced to seven and a half years. Tsouli was born in Morocco, but he had just received permission to live in Britain indefinitely, before his arrest in October 2005. He lived in West London, and Judge Peter Openshaw sentenced him to 10 years' jail, with a recommendation for deportation at the end of his sentence.

Mughal and Tsouli had been charged with conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause an explosion, while Daour had been charged with fundraising offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000. The three were arrested on October 20 and 21, 2005. Mughal was accused on 8 counts, including having a recipe for making rocket propellants and also possessing a DVD of jihadist "martyrdom operations".

Tsouli also faced 8 charges. He was accused of having a video presentation on his computer showing how to make a car bomb, and also ws said to have had a picture presentation of various locations in Washington DC. All three were accused of credit card fraud, and al-Daour is accused of receiving money and assets knowing that they may be used in terrorism.

Their arrests were soon followed by arrests in Bosnia on October 23 and arrests in Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 28 and October 29. In November 2005, it was revealed that some of the Danish suspects, who had been accused of plotting attacks against European targets, had email links with a man living in Bosnia, codenamed "Maximus", who had apparently been trying to recruit jihadists to fight in Iraq. The British terror suspects were hatching a plot to attack the White House in Washington DC, US. UK police believed one of the Danish detainees was involved with this plan. Tsouli had a slide-show of various locations in Washington DC on his computer.

The Danish suspects were all worshippers at the the same mosque in Copenhagen's Norrebo district, the "Islamic Congregation" which was headed by the late Abu Laban, the Palestinian-born cleric who had later campaigned to have the Danish cartoon crisis turned into an international affair.

The two people who had been arrested in Bosnia on October 23, 2005 were Cesur Abdulkadir, a Turkish national, and a Swedish citizen, Mirsad Bektasevic. Cesur Abdulkadir and Mirsad Bektasevic had been living in an apartment in the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidza, and had been arrested after a surveillance operation which had started in September and had originally included 10 people. Cesur and Bektasevic had arrived in Bosnia three weeks prior to their arrest.

There were two more arrests in Bosnia on November 19, 2005, and another Bosnian suspect was arrested on November 27, 2005. Additionally, the investigations in Bosnia had recovered suicide vests, about 30 kilograms, or 65 pounds, of high explosive, as well as exploding bullets and a machine pistol.
In May 2006 in Bosnia, three men (including Abdulkadir and Bektasevic) pleaded not guilty to plotting a terrorist attack. In September, the Bosnian court was shown a video of Mirsad Bektasevic with another man, both wearing masks, in front of a collection of weapons, including hand grenades and explosives. The masked pair spoke of making terror attacks in Europe.

On January 11 this year, four men were jailed in Bosnia.The Swedish national of Bosnian origins - Mirsad Bektasevic - was given 15 years and four months, and Abdulkadir Cesur received a 13-year sentence. Bajro Ikanovic received a jail sentence of eight years. Senad Hasanovic received a two and a half year sentence. The four shouted "Allah is Great" as they were given their sentences. The man known as "Maximus" and who had been linked to the Danish suspects via email was Mirsad Bektasevic (pictured right).

On December 6, 2006 the trial of four Muslims began in Copenhagen. Abdul Basit Abu-Lifa, Elias Ibn Hsain, Imad Ali Jaloud and Adnan Avdic were accused of plotting terror attacks in Bosnia or another European country. On February 15, 2007, Danish national of Palestinian parentage Abdul Basit Abu-Lifa, aged 17, was found guilty, and he was sentenced to seven years' jail. The other three were acquitted.

The three men who were jailed for using the internet for inciting terror in London on Thursday were involved in running websites, including a chatroom run by Younis Tsouli. Here, he used the codename "irhabi007". "Irhabi" is the Arabic word for a terrorist, and 007 was a reference to James Bond movies.

What is disturbing, in light of the car bomb plots in London and Glasgow recently which were carried out by doctors, is an entry made on the chatroom on February 12, 2005. This stated: "We are 45 doctors and we are determined to undertake jihad and take the battle inside America. The first target which will be penetrated by nine brothers is the naval base which gives shelter to the ship Kennedy."

The "ship Kennedy" is apparently a reference to the USS John Kennedy aircraft carrier based in Florida. The February 12 message also mentioned other targets, including clubs for naked women which are opposite the First and Third units. The individuals involved in this plot said they wished to use six Chevrolet GT vehicles and three fishing boats. Tsouli, aka "Irhabi007" had responded: "He needs the recipe for making car bombs". These instructions were then sent to the plotters.

The online forum also showed videos which were designed to encourage jihad. These included beheading videos, and bomb-making instructions. They urged 'good Muslims" to engage in "jihad".

At Waseem Mughal's apartment in West London, arresting officers found a guide in Powerpoint on his computer, entitled "The Illustrated Booby Trapping Course". This detailed how to make a suicide vest, with added ball bearings to act as shrapnel.

Their cyber conversations were revealed to the court. Mughal said at one stage: "A lot of the funding that the brothers are getting is coming because of the videos. Imagine how many have gone (to Iraq) after seeing the videos. Imagine how many have become shahid (martyrs)."

Prosecutor Mark Ellison said all three had been closely involved with al-Qaeda in Iraq, headed by the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. On their web hosting, they displayed images of the beheading in Iraq of Liverpool man Ken Bigley, and also the killing of US journalist Daniel Pearl. Tsouli was said to have helped to design the logo of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

The Bosnian-born Swedish national Mirsad Bektasevic, aka "Maximus" had saved the details of Mughal, Tsouli and Daour on his computer, and had internet conversations with them, which had been encrypted. "Maximus" had made a video in which two masked men were seen with explosives. He had admitted during his Sarajevo trial that he had made this video himself, on his aunt's video camera.

When this was displayed, it had a narration: "Here are the boys preparing for the attacks. They are showing us the stuff they are going to use for the attack. These boys are prepared to attack and Inshallah, God willing, they will attack Kuffar (non-believers) who are killing our brothers and Muslims in Iraq, in Afghanistan, Chechnya and many other countries."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at July 5, 2007 10:10 PM

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