Islam-Online includes in its pages today, co-incidentally, a section about the treatment of prisoners and an interview wtih a would-be suicide bomber. It will be interesting to see how they react to the Iraqi prisoner photos (no coverage at the time of blogging).

There is also an announcement of a 'new' Qaradawi initiative:

"An all-inclusive world union of Muslim scholars across the globe is to be created soon, with the aim of preserving the Islamic identity, promoting religious awareness, confronting "destructive trends" and giving advice to leaders of Muslim countries."

TheStar.com - Arab TV shows images of humiliation

These pictures have also appeared on the internet, on al-Jazeera and other sites.

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Bush 'disgusted' over Iraq abuse

Aljazeera.Net - Outrage at US abuse of Iraqi prisoners

kgw.com | News for Oregon and SW Washington | AP Wire, Al-Hussayen recommends donations to targeted charity more on Sami Omar Al-Hussayen's case:

"The government claims Al-Hussayen used his key role in the Islamic Assembly of North America, which created Help The Needy, to set up an Internet network that financed and recruited terrorists. "

Daily Times, US praises Pakistan’s anti-terror efforts refers to Lashkar-e-Taiba's use of net as a fundraising tool; also refers to other groups

AP/Indiana Printing & Publishing Co., al-Qaida Operative: Jordan Attack Planned: "A man identified as al-Qaida operative Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi conceded on an audiotape broadcast Friday that Jordanian authorities thwarted a plot to blow up their secret service building, but said his group didn't have a chemical weapon as police claimed." tape also broadcast via net.

Female comedian outrages high profile mullah by lifting him off the ground | CP - Scene_1 refers to Mullah Krekar, who has been covered in this blog before in relation to al-Ansar al-Islam and alleged web activities

arabnews.com, Jeddah Group to Launch Biggest Islamic e-Library

This article refers to www.al-islamforall.com, whose site features the translation of the Qur'an by Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi, together with many of his other works. Other (related) writers are listed - such as Khurram Murad and Ahmad Von Denffer - but not all the hyperlinks of authors and titles lead to functional pages, which is frustrating. The site offers downloadable books too. Here's one of the gifs from the site, illustrating some of its authors:

Lincoln Journal Star, Canadians allow Islamic courts to decide disputes

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > World -- Shattered mosque walls, bloodied Quran reminders of Thailand's day of violence

useful summary on the current situation in Syria (no specific tech link): AP/Pioneer Press | 04/29/2004 | Syria attack may signal return of militant Islam

Hi Pakistan, Khatami admits to ‘signs of despotism’ in Islamic regime: "... Khatami did defend a recent move to increase the filtering of certain Internet sites to web users in Iran. Most of those blocked are pornographic or run by exiled opposition activists. 'Our society has moral foundations and the sites that are immoral are filtered,' he said. 'We do not block access to political sites, although we will not allow political sites seeking to overthrow us.' "

E-translators: the more you say, the better | csmonitor.com: "The US military is using a one-way translation device called Phraselator to communicate with Iraqis. It translates English phrases aloud."

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Al-Qaida warning by Saudi Arabia's most wanted man more on statement by Abdulaziz al-Muqrin (allegedly).

Aljazeera.Net - At least 100 dead in southern Thai clashes non-tech, but significant. Thai Muslim organisations have a web presence too, for example MuslimThai.com

Guardian Unlimited Film | News | Film mocking the mullahs is a hit in Iran: "The Lizard, which tells the story of a thief who escapes prison by posing as a cleric, has struck a chord in a society where satirising mullahs has long been strictly taboo. "

Yahoo! News - Kurds' success provides lesson for rest of Iraq: "Just over 45% of the university students are women. Males and females study side by side. Internet use is free to all students. There is no censorship or political influence on campus. "

Region's academia meet in Dubai on future technologies - AME Info Business News Microsoft Research Academy meeting

Scotsman.com News - International - 'Al-Qaeda' tape warns of attacks "The tape, purported to be by Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, was broadcast through a link on the Dirasat Islamic website, which carries statements said to come from senior al-Qaeda and Taleban officials."

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | How email became a diplomatic incident this refers to the diplomats' letter published yesterday:

"The letter signed by the 52 former British diplomats originated a long way from the London dinner circuit, far from the Arab embassies, the Travellers Club in Pall Mall and other haunts of the ex-Foreign Office establishment. Instead, it can be traced to Tripoli, to an internet cafe near the Katib (Grand) Hotel. "

Tehran Times, Serious Measures Needed to Determine Imam Musa Sadr’s Fate: Nephew refers to Musa Sadr's disappearance: "Tabataba'i [Sadr's nephew] also mentioned that Sadr's family had established an internet site in order to familiarize the youth with Imam Musa Sadr."

IHT: Web master faces the Patriot Act more on the al-Hussayen case (below)

SITE Institute, Terrorism Headlines, Judge indicates he will limit government evidence against Al-Hussayen
: "A federal judge has taken under advisement a request by prosecutors to show jurors an Internet Web page they say was built by defendant Sami Omar Al-Hussayen and encourages suicide bombings."

MEMRI: Liberal Muslim Scholar: The Term 'Jihad' is Misunderstood by Islamist Clerics

"In an article in the London Arabic-language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari, former dean of the Faculty of Islamic Law at the University of Qatar, stated that modern Islamic Fatwas (religious legal opinions) distort the meaning of Jihad to justify an aggressive ideology."

Not sure abut the application of the term 'liberal' here - there are some interesting media references.

BBC NEWS | Wales | South East Wales | Muslim 'rock star' on terrorism

Are Jihadis Planning To Attack English Yahoo Groups And Other Sites? - Jeremy Reynalds refers to www.ikhwan.net/

TCS: Tech Central Station - Saudo-Masochism Understood: "Dissident Saudi subjects with whom I meet frequently, and who have bravely smuggled my book, The Two Faces of Islam, into the kingdom, also possess satellite dishes and have access to the internet. "

Times Online - Abu Hamza 'supports five terror groups': "The extremist Muslim preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri supports five international terror groups including al-Qaeda, a court heard today."

Times Online - E-mail from sister 'encouraged brother in Israel attack': "The sister of a would-be suicide bomber who targeted an Israeli bar actively encouraged him to carry out the attack, an Old Bailey court heard today."

Independent: "Rape, torture, and one million forced to flee as Sudan's crisis unfolds. Will we move to stop it?" inbetween the other headlines, I'm curious to see how much coverage this issue will receive online. This is not a tech story, but essential reading nevertheless.

Serious About News: Luton, Muslim disowned by his own more on Sayful Islam and al-Muhajiroun's Luton manifestation

The Star Online: Lifestyle This is a review of a new book: Edmund Terence Gomez (ed.), The State of Malaysia – Ethnicity, Equity and Reform (Routledge Curzon) which contains a chapter by Jason Abbot (“The Internet reformasi and democratisation in Malaysia”) . It is a subject I have referred to in my own work, so I'll be interested in reading something in more detail.

Wired News: Madrasas Slowly Warm to Computers I was interested to see this, especially as - several years ago - I did some research work at Jamia Ashrafia. The madrassah is referred to in the article.

thisislondon.co.uk, Hamza's suicide bombings call allegations regarding Abu Hamza, whose staements also appear online.

BBC NEWS | UK | UK extremism threat 'growing'

Sacked for photo Americans weren't meant to see - SpecialsWarOnIraq - www.smh.com.au the photo now has a wide net circulation

Energy blackout bomb: architect accused - SpecialsAustraliaonGuard - www.smh.com.au: "Central Local Court heard yesterday that ASIO had observed Lodhi, an architect, dumping documents in a bin. The retrieved material had included photographs downloaded from the internet showing the layout of the Sydney-based military facilities Holsworthy Army Base, Garden Island Naval Base, Victoria Barracks and the HMAS Penguin base in Balmoral. "

Forbes.com: In cyberwar game, US Army confronts enemies within: "The mission: to secure an entire computer network for the United States and its allies against a vague enemy force. "

Tracking the Threat, Al Haramain Brigades entry refers to stories below.

Hi Pakistan, Saudi group claims responsibility for Wednesday's attack
"A Saudi militant group, Al Haramain Brigades, has claimed responsibility for Wednesday's bombing in Riyadh. In a statement on the Internet, it said: "Al Haramain Brigades in the Arab peninsula succeeded in bombing the command headquarters of emergency and anti-terrorism forces of the Interior Ministry.""

CNN.com - Saudi crackdown: 5 militants dead - Apr 23, 2004 "The group, called The Brigade of the Two Holy Shrines, has claimed responsibility for two other attacks in Saudi Arabia, both of them assassinations of security forces.

"The claim for the bombing was posted Thursday on a Geocities Web site and on a number of Islamist Web sites, according to Paul Eedle, a specialist on al Qaeda's use of the Internet."

Daily Times - www.quienmeayudo.com discusses http://www.quienmeayudo.com, a support website for Madrid bomb victims.

More on the al-Hussayen case. I should point out that http://www.qoqaz.com remains an active site. I discuss it in Islam in the Digital Age:

kgw.com | News for Oregon and SW Washington | AP Wire: "Bobby Lee, an engineering manager for Yahoo!, submitted activity logs and message details that showed Al-Hussayen served as a moderator of the group http://www.qoqaz.com, an Arabic language Web site carrying information on the activities of Muslims in Chechnya and the rest of the Caucasus region. The site is organized by Yahoo! "

There's a review of 'Islam in the Digital Age' in The Muslim World Book Review 24:3, 2004, 34-37. More information on reviews can be found via my main pages.

On the subject of the photo-mosaic software featured in yesterday's blog, I think that the concept can be extended to a broad range of 'personalities' and individuals -- including some that are discussed in 'cyber Islamic environments'. Suggestions welcomed!

OCCRi - Oxford Cross Cultural Research Institute this is a new site, consequently many areas are in development. Main content at present is 'Hijab and Spin', which focuses on dress-code discussions.

Aftenposten Norway, Norwegian news in English: "Mullah Krekar, former leader of the militant Kurdish group Ansar al-Islam, presents his book 'Med egne ord' - In My Own Words - at a press conference on Thursday. The autobiography includes a series of shocking revelations, including the admission that Krekar tried to get funding from Osama bin Laden, newspaper VG reports."

pravda.ru, Chechens are promised Heaven for killing Russians - PRAVDA.Ru

The Sun, Mad Mullah Of Suburbia Focuses on the Luton branch of al-Muhajiroun - and the response of local Muslims. Particular attention is paid to Sayful Islam, al-Muhajiroun's local leader

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Sarfraz Manzoor: The benefits of being a British Muslim

The New York Times > International > Middle East > Basra Toll Is Lowered to 50, Including 20 Children

The New York Times > Technology > Many Started Web Logs for Fun, but Bloggers Need Money, Too some interesting basic info on blogging -- no specific Islamic link, although I have been writing recently about Muslim blogs for forthcoming publications.

Asia Times - Why Islam baffles America opinion-piece, that includes references to al-Sistani's website

Traitor. Hero. Fool. Whistleblower. (washingtonpost.com) Vanunu's release, and the restrictions placed on his activities (including no net chat).

KBCI 2 Boise, Idaho, Sami Al-Hussayen's Role In Web Site Questioned: "A manager for an Internet company told jurors today Idaho graduate student Sami Omar Al-Hussayen was in the position to control content on a Web site prosecutors claim was used to foster terrorism."

Independent, The mosaic of war: faces of the fallen, portraits of their leaders; Protester made Bush image from US dead. 'The Independent' has done the same for Tony Blair refers to photo-mosaic appearing on the American Leftist site -- to locate it, scroll down to April 7 'War President' entry.. The Independent's Blair version doesn't seem to be online at present.

For information purposes, here's a copy of the Bush version:



American Leftist -- 'War President'

NPR : Terrorism And The Internet: "Gabriel Weimann discusses his study How Modern Terrorism Uses the Internet. Weimann argues that cyberterrorism is an exaggerated threat. He says terrorist groups are enjoying much more success in recruiting and fundraising online." links to audio broadcast.

nzherald.co.nz, Saudi car bomb kills at least 10 internet link to story

Bloomberg.com, France Deports Lyon Islamic Cleric for Defending Wife-Beating:

Bloomberg.com, Rafsanjanis Are Iran's Power Brokers as Investors Seek Oil

HoustonChronicle.com - Malkin: No patience for 'hindsight hypocrites' opinion piece

washingtontimes.com, FBI said buried by security demands This is cited by the article by mensnewsdaily.com below:

"Even after warrants are approved, the FBI often doesn't have enough agents or other personnel with the expertise to conduct the surveillance. And the agency still is trying to build a cadre of translators who can understand conversations intercepted in such languages as Arabic, Pashto and Farsi."

mensnewsdaily.com, While Terror Site Goes Down, Another Yahoo Group Advises Muslims to Waste FBI Time, Resources

Hermitage Rooms, Heaven on Earth: Art from Islamic Lands - Islamic Art from The State Hermitage Museum and The Khalili Collection web site devoted to a new exhibition, which I am looking forward to seeing in due course.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Internet driving hate site surge refers to report from the Wiesenthal Centre

Salaam, Islam in the Digital Age review of my book by M. Afifi

Guardian Unlimited | Online | Mob mentality interview with Howard Rheingold, who discusses 'Smart Mobs'.

Guardian Unlimited | Hamas ready to cooperate, but only in Gaza: "Despite almost constant vows of revenge by mourners since the death of its leader, Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, senior officials want to continue discussing with the Palestinian Authority how Hamas could take a political role when and if Israel evacuates 18 settlements in the strip and withdraws its troops.

Star-Ledger/AP, Islam scholars' Catch-22 Old Timbuktu texts have been digitised for preservation of their knowledge; they present an alternative West African perspective on Islam, but there are tens of thousands that require conservation and preservation for future generations.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: AP - Saudi Islamic doctrine hard to controlt: "To gauge how conservative Saudi society is, look at the Internet chatter swirling around Education Minister Mohammed al-Rasheed. He's 'secular,' it is claimed. He 'took women to Beirut,' a city religious hard-liners see as a cesspit of Western liberal ways."

Ample - Various attacks being planned against London - Islamic group:

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | 'The Hamas way has emerged victorious' media round-up with URLs

independent.co.uk, Grieving Palestinians pledge bloody revenge for killing of Hamas leader: "The green flags of the Hamas supporters mingled in a show of unity with the yellow and black banners of Islamic Jihad, the yellow ones of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and the occasional red one of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Ahmed Jebril, secretary general of the PFLP-GC (General Command), based in Damascus, warned of an 'open war against the Zionist-American enemy and Arabs ... who side with them'."

Reuters AlertNet - FEATURE-Religion, tradition contrast in Saudi Arabia

Yesterday, I was reading about the (relatively) high levels of net access and low cost in Libya (in The Independent's travel section). I imagine there will be some unhappy surfers in Tripoli today, with the net now disappearing (in part) due to a dispute in the curious case of ...:

Dr Hosni Tayeb and the case of the disappearing Internet | The Register

Brookings.edu, Warriors for Hire in Iraq includes links to military 'logistics' companies operating in Iraq.

And whilst thinking about Iraq, please visit iraqbodycount.net and lunaville.org. The former offers a counter for installation on websites.

The French Experience of Counter-terrorism Links to PDF

Seeing Osama Plain - Washington's focus on al-Qaida misses the larger Islamist picture. By Lee Smith: "When Tenet says that al-Qaida's influence is only recently spreading, he is telling us that no one in his office has briefed him on Sayyid Qutb's writings, the bible for a very widespread and potent ideological trend that declared war on Jews, Crusaders, and infidel Muslim rulers long before Osama Bin Laden first sprouted whiskers." Essential reading.

BBC NEWS | Technology | 'Net ninjas' take on web censorship

This one is about research on 'hacktivism' and associated issues, undertaken by The Citizen Lab, Toronto:

"A small group of 'net commandos' at the University of Toronto are looking to help people get around government controls on the internet"

There's some Islam-related references too:

"The Citizen Lab also actively develops circumvention technologies designed to help citizens in say, Saudi Arabia, get around government imposed blocks that restrict internet content.

"Saudi Arabia says explicitly that they censor the internet to preserve their Islamic culture and heritage, which is a pretty valid claim to make," explained the lab's Graeme Bunton.

"For us to start looking at ways to circumvent that is a difficult challenge for us. We do think that information should be free, but we do need to find a balance for respect for sovereign states to preserve their own culture."

The Citizen Lab has some interesting material on it. It led me to this:

Kandahar Chronicles

This is a blog from a "Médecins Sans Frontières Field Logistician based in Kandahar Afghanistan".

The site also led me to this paper by W. Sean McLaughlin, which I haven't had an opportunity to study in depth yet:

First Monday, The use of the Internet for political action by non-state dissident actors in the Middle East Paper focuses on The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA).

Wired 12.04: Apocalypse Now I was wondering at first if this was an April 1st story about plans to project holograms over the Dome of the Rock in order to encourage the Mahdi/Messiah to emerge. It certainly made for interesting reading, and has a rather cool illustration.

BBC NEWS | Business | Bangladesh mobile costs 'to fall'

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Saudis arrest religious reformist

"Mr Zaeer is an academic in mass communications and a religious reformist who has called for greater transparency within the closely state-monitored Saudi clergy.

"Two days earlier, al-Jazeera interviewed him about an audio tape purportedly released by Osama Bin Laden, in which he offered European nations a truce if they withdrew their troops from Muslim countries."

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Saudi presenter shows beaten face non-tech, but significant

Forbes.com: Internet "spyware" emerges as new online threat

Times Online - Sunday Times, Eton appoints an imam also to offer Arabic

Times Online - Sunday Times, Muslim peer deserves to die, say Islamic zealots article by Gareth Watts about al-Muhajiroun, who have featured in this blog and also in my books.

www.terror.net : Special Reports: Publications: U.S. Institute of Peace

Daily Times - Site Edition: "There are hundreds of sites on the Internet serving terrorist groups and their supporters, according to a study done by the US Institute of Peace (USIP)." study was undertaken in Haifa University by Professor Gabriel Weimann.

The Globe and Mail: "Momin Khawaja sits in solitary confinement, the first person charged under Canada's new anti-terrorism law" strong computer link here too

This is the case of Sami Omar al-Hussayen, which has picked up substantial press coverage, and has a strong internet subtext:

casperstartribune.net, Prosecutors claim Al-Hussayen lied on visa application: "The defense maintains Al-Hussayen, who was only months away from earning a doctorate in computer science when he was charged, was a mere volunteer and charitable supporter of the assembly and its religious outreach programs with no connection to terrorism.

But Lindquist told jurors that he was a key official in the Michigan-based organization and ran the web site the government says is the foundation for an Internet network that recruits and funds terrorists around the world."

Arab News, Haram Imam Urges Muslims to Foil Attacks by Terrorists: "The imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah told Muslims yesterday it was their duty to foil terror attacks as the Kingdom battles Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists."

Al Jazeera.net, Usama bin Laden, 15 April 2004 2 MB + audio file.

Aljazeera.Net - Hamas chief assassinated by Israel

Reuters AlertNet - Five facts about Rantissi, Hamas also see Palestine-Info

IPS, Activists Crusade Against E-Jihad

"”There are hundreds of these websites, and new ones appear every day,” Egyptian political analyst Hassan Abu Taleb told IPS. ”They spread a very negative and incorrect image of Islam.”"

gopusa.com, Internet Provider Pulls Plug on Jihadi 'News' Service
: "Global Islamic Media, with its 7,352 members at time of writing, is one of many Yahoo groups devoted to propagating radical Islamic beliefs."

OfficialWire: The Official News & PR Delivery Service, Marine Reservist Under Investigation For Deplorable Photo I blogged this story last week - now see the official US military follow up.

The Oregonian, Terrorism trial opens Tuesday in Idaho : "A radical Saudi Arabian cleric took to the Internet with gusto four years ago to promote violent jihad, justify terrorist suicide missions and demonize the United States."

Pittsburg Post-Gazette, Arabs once dominated science refers to the net, and also the Arab Science and Technology Foundation

CommonDreams.org, Osama's Wet Dream: Losing Hearts & Minds in Iraq and Beyond piece by Lawrence Pintak: "“I want YOU to invade Iraq,” said an apocryphal recruiting poster featuring Osama bin Laden that circulated on anti-war web sites after 9/11. And so we did. Historian Barbara Tuchman had a phrase for it: “The march of folly,” which she defined as “the pursuit of policy contrary to self-interest.”"

So You Want To Be an Ayatollah - How Shiite clerics earn the name. By Brendan I. Koerner: "Muqtada Sadr, the Shiite cleric whose supporters are attacking U.S. troops in Iraq, has yet to attain the title of ayatollah. According to the New York Times, Sadr is 'several ranks and many years away' from earning that honorific. How does a garden variety Shiite cleric become an ayatollah?"

MSNBC - A Net of Control "How the Internet could become a tool of corporate and government power, based on updates now in the works."

MSNBC - Tangled Ties "Law-enforcement officials follow the money trail among suspected terrorists straight to the doors of the Saudi Embassy." according to Newsweek journalists

Where is Raed ? Where is Salam? Salam Pax was on BBC News 24 yesterday, on the programme 'Hard Talk'.

Wired News/Reuters, Million Shi'ite Pilgrims Gather Amid Iraq Clashes 
"Up to a million Muslim pilgrims massed in the Iraqi Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala on Saturday as radical Shi'ite fighters and Polish troops exchanged rocket and mortar fire on the outskirts."

Gulf News, New Arabic encyclopaedia is huge hit with quiz buffs Malomat Encyclopedia of General Knowledge has an internet component, but I have yet to check it out

Boston.com / News / World / Protesters across Middle East denounce siege of Fallujah : "In a statement posted on Internet sites and repeated on Arab TV stations, prominent Islamic figures including the leader of the Hezbollah militant group and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Syria and Jordan praised the ''national unity'' shown by Iraqis."

Agenzia Giornalistica Italia - Interior Ministry, no al-Qaeda cells in Italy brief reference to the net.

MuslimWakeUp, Mohja Kahf, Sex & the Umma: Lustrous Companions A colourful account that will confront some people's stereotypes of Muslim women, and also brings a new dimension to cyber Islamic environments. Related stories below.

MuslimWakeUp: Enough with the Prudes: Bring on “Sex and the Umma” article by Scott Siraj Al-Haqq Kugle, from Swarthmore College, which relates to the Daily News story below.

New York Daily News - Home - Lloyd Grove's Lowdown: Muslim women talk sex "... in the online magazine muslimwakeup.com, the Syrian-born Kahf, a literature professor at the University of Arkansas, launches the mag's first Islamic sex column, "Sex & the Umma.""

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Foreigners held hostage in Iraq

The Star (Malaysia), Impact of ICT innovations: The Islamic context "Waseda University of Japan, in collaboration with our own Multimedia University (MMU), recently organised a conference on ICT Innovations and Their Impact on Socioeconomic and Cultural Environments: Dialogue in a Borderless World and the Islamic Context."

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Bush aide gives 9/11 testimony

Reuters | Jews, Americans top targets in "Qaeda" document  "A strategy paper posted on a Web site sympathetic to al Qaeda lists Jews, Americans and Britons as main targets, and calls on militant cells worldwide to "turn the infidels' lands into hell"."

MSNBC - Video calls on Muslims to kill Americans: "A masked man identified as Abdulaziz al-Muqrin in a video on the Dirasat website said Americans had yet to feel the 'real fires of battle.'"

FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Mosque, Journalists Possible Targets in Iraq

FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Report: Indonesian Islamists Trained Filipinos

Some other useful ZMag resources that I have seen before - but haven't blogged:

Internet Analysis and Commentary Links

Webwatch

Noam Chomsky, Turning the TideI was interested to see (via the Guardian's webwatch that Chomsky is now a blogger. Sounds like a natural outlet for his work and commentary -- so I'll be watching this one with interest.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Man jailed over 9/11 is freed

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Polish troops kill Shia leader

AFP, iafrica.com | news | world news Al-Qaeda justifies Fallujah mutilations discusses statement on "http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/groups/islamic-media/message/153"

Islam Online, "Internet 'Extremely' More Important Than TV: Study":

Islam Online- Rampant Credit Card Fraud Haunts S.East Asia

Purported Tape by Top Militant Urges Anti-US Raids, Reuters.comfocuses on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi:

"The voice on the tape, posted on an Islamist Internet site, claimed responsibility for a string of attacks in Iraq, including the killing in August of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim, head of the country's largest Shi'ite group. "

FrontPage magazine.com :: A Battle Plan Against Radical Islam by Daniel Pipes focuses on Cheryl Benard's book 'Civil Democratic Islam: Partners, Resources, and Strategies' (available through rand.org)

RAND: Mapping the Risks: Assessing the Homeland Security Implications of Publicly Available Geospatial Information available through a PDF version.

Islam Online- Sadr Ends Sit-In ‘To Turn Off Bloodshed’

robert-fisk.com, A collection of Articles & Reports by Mr. Robert Fisk This is a regularly updated resource of articles by Fisk. Note that the Independent requires a subscription to view Fisk's content. His latest headline is 'US airlifts Saddam out of Iraq'.

thenation.com, Watching Each Other Warily Dilip Hiro piece.

arabnews.com, Karzai Calls for 'Jihad' Against Afghanistan's Growing Drugs Trade:

"Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday called for a 'jihad' against the country's growing narcotics trade, saying the drug industry threatened the stability of the government."

reflects different approaches to the concept of jihad, which I discuss in my book

Guardian Unlimited | Guardian daily comment | Fuad Nahdi: Bring back real Islam to our shores

straitstimes, New Islamic party celebrates early success at polls - APRIL 7, 2004

Hi Pakistan, Our unaddressed dilemmas

aljazeerah.info/Observer/Arab News, What Ails Britain’s Muslim Community?: Fareena Alam (editor, Q-News), has written this piece, which has net references.

The Register, Welsh bang up 419er for 20 months

MEMRI: Former Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee Head Sets Out the Jews' 20 Bad Traits As Described in the Qur'an

WorldNetDaily: Muslim cleric justifies mutilation of enemies refers to Islam-Online

HamptonRoads.com/Pilot Online, Beach man sued over claims on Web about Muslim group this refers to the anti-CAIR site. CAIR is the Council for American Islamic Relations.

The main CAIR story today also holds an internet reference and allegation:

U.S. Muslims seek Pentagon probe on Iraq photo : "The photo sent to CAIR seems to be of an American soldier standing next to two Iraqi children who are giving the thumbs-up sign. One child holds a hand-lettered sign in English that reads: "Lcpl Boudreaux killed my Dad, th(en) he knocked up my sister!" ("Knocked up" is American slang for making someone pregnant out of wedlock.)"



Also see http://www.cair-net.org/images/lcpl11.jpg (enlarged version)

Ample/AFX UK Focus, Zarqawi broadcasts threats against US forces in Iraq - Islamist website : "Jordanian Mussab al-Zarqawi, the alleged leader of a network in Iraq believed responsible for several attacks there, threatened US-led forces in a recording broadcast Monday on an Islamist website."

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Son of the Hidden Imam preaches rebellion to his army of men in black I think that the application of the term 'hidden imam' is somewhat contentious in this context

Times Online - Zealots open online training
refers to al-Battar online manual, which has been previously referred to in this blog. Cites MEMRI.

Also see Northeast Intelligence Network, Everything you always wanted to know about becoming a terrorist, but were afraid to ask.

Asia Media, Al-Qaeda publishes magazine on the Net

Times Online - British terror plot foiled by the spies from the Puzzle Palace

Times Online - Mullah Omar threatens Afghan suicide blitz

Aljazeera.Net - Australian media hypes hatred
"Authors Peter Manning and Iain Lygo argue that views of Arab and Muslim people in Australia have been significantly distorted in recent coverage." includes net coverage.

The Salt Lake Tribune -- Many in Middle East indifferent to deaths of Americans article is better than the headline. "Hundreds of American troops in Iraq never saw the gruesome Fallujah footage in full because many satellite TV networks didn't show it and many Internet sites are blocked on U.S. bases."

Seeing Iraq through the globalization lens | csmonitor.com "As I sat in a Baghdad Internet cafe watching Iraqi teenagers and middle-aged business people check e-mail or research new products, it was clear that Iraqis would like to profit from globalization as much as the wealthy Mecca Mall patrons. As bombs and gunfire echoed blocks away, this dream of a truly human globalization seemed both possible and singularly urgent."

Jerusalem Post Internet Edition, The whistleblower of Islam
: more information on Irshad Manji, who also has a net presence (and has been featured elsewhere on this blog)

The Observer | UK News | Hardline youths divide Muslims

Middle East Newsline, Egyptian textbooks said to exalt jihad

BBC NEWS | Technology | Jordan's king puts faith in hi-tech: "The king is hoping that the investment in technology and education will be successful so that younger generations in the region would recognise Jordan had been successful, and themselves take risks."

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Madrid 'ringleader' dies in blast

Iraq Hawks Down - Is Fallujah Iraq's Mogadishu? By Fred Kaplan

Tunis Envy - What's really behind the cancellation of the Arab League summit? By Michael Young

Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Iraq Muslim Cleric Condemns Mutilation

webpronews.com, Ten Major Tips to Develop a Multilingual Web Site to Work some useful advice here on developing sites in languages such as Farsi and Arabic.

contractoruk.com, Week in the Workplace: Human stupidity blights security, but smartphones are pretty dumb too - 2 April 2004: "... the New York Times asserts that “Al Qaeda” actually means “database”, from the records of trainee terrorists kept by Osama Bin Laden. The NYT doesn’t speculate which database Bin Laden used, but as UK analyst Robin Bloor comments, this cannot be positive news for the database vendors."

Uzbekistan attacks put spotlight on Islamic party - The Washington Times: World

muslimuzbekistan.com discussion on recent events, with internet references.

Reuters | Hatred of Jews and Muslims takes root in France
: "The report noted that many Internet sites were spreading anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate speech and said abusive racist language had become worryingly common in French schools."

NEWS.com.au | Al-Qaeda business plan 'cutting edge' (April 2, 2004)findings of a business studies student who explores the 'organisational model' of al-Qaeda:

"Mr Harrison reached his conclusions after reading the al-Qaeda operations manual he downloaded from the US Department of Justice website.

"He was surprised the manual advocated the decentralised management approach favoured by many management gurus."

NEWS.com.au | Iraq killings 'revenge on Israel' (April 2, 2004): "A previously unknown group overnight claimed responsibility for the the gruesome killing of four US contractors in Fallujah, western Iraq.
"

Times Online - From schoolboy to the Mujahidin: Inside the mind of a British Muslim

Not a tech story, but nonetheless relevant:

Guardian Unlimited Books | News | Bush, the Saudi billionaire and the Islamists

Discussion of book 'House of Bush, House of Saud', by Craig Unger, and the cancellation of its publication because of libel risks. The book - according the The Guardian - features a number of allegations:

"Unger collates links between Mr Bin Mahfouz and Islamist fundamentalists. But the new dimension of his research is that he also analyses the Texas business links between the Bush circle and the families of Mr Bin Mahfouz and other rich Saudis."

Islam-Online, LiveDialogue: Dr. Abdullah Abdur Rahman, the Counselor for Muslims in non-Muslim countries, 'Cybersex: Is Your World Being Turned Upside Down?':

This is a distraction from world affairs relating to Islam and the Internet. Islam-Online, one of the subjects of my book 'Islam in the Digital Age', recently held a 'Live Dialogue' sesson relating to 'cybersex' and its impact on Muslim communities. Not all the questions relate specifically to this phenomena, but some interesting points are made associated with cybersex, and the impact of technology in general. Here's an extract from one response - but do take a look at the entire dialogue:

"The problem has never really been the internet or any form of technology actually but rather the uses of the technology. The internet masha'Allah has such tremendous potential for Muslims to take advantage of, for example. This live dialog you and I are having! However, what is at the root of the problem is that our fellow Muslims who do engage in cybersex are actually far from the understanding of Islamic teachings. It does not matter if there is internet or not. If there was no internet, they would find an alternative way to satisfy their desires."

SudanTribune, Turabi charged with damaging Sudan's security, Islamist party shut down non-tech, but the arrest of Hassan al-Turabi is extremely significant.

Straits Times, JI bombers 'acting on Osama's fatwa' - APRIL 2, 2004: "Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorists responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings and other deadly attacks in South-east Asia were operating under a fatwa, or religious edict, which they believed came from Osama bin Laden, an alleged member of the group said."

Substantial comments today in the press on Muslims in the UK (and elsewhere). It's not the intention to relay all of these opinions in this blog - but in the complexity of opinions about Islam represented on the web, I have featured a few comments here for blogging purposes:

Horror at Fallujah / SAVAGE ATTACK: Bodies dragged through street, hung from bridge / 4 U.S. contractors killed in ambush hours after 5 soldiers are slain

al-Muhajiroun al-Muhajiroun's statements on events below, including *their* reaction to the MCB announcement:

" ...the MCB would instead have our mosques become outposts for the MI5 and special branch on behalf of the Kufaar (i.e. non-Muslims) who are currently slaughtering Muslims in Iraq, have slaughtered Muslims in Afghanistan and who support the slaughter of Muslims in Palestine!!"

Read their full text here

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Police search emails for trail to Pakistan: "Police computer experts were last night trawling through email records from a West Sussex internet cafe as the intelligence agencies tried to establish links between eight UK terror suspects and senior militants in Pakistan."

csmonitor.com, After an advocate's killing, Iraqi women try to stay course technology link here.

The Sun, Fanatics with playboy past: from the father of one of the people arrested in Crawley:

“"He has two interests — the internet and the Koran — but all he was doing in Pakistan was building a house.”"

Further references to al-Muhajiroun in this article

Reuters AlertNet - FEATURE-Algeria's restless youth in liberal city several references here to internet cafes

Reuters | Latest Financial News / British police pursue Canada "terror" link
: "Police say they are working with Canadian authorities after a software developer was charged in Ottawa with aiding a 'terrorist group' in Britain and Canada."

IMRA - Wednesday, March 31, 2004 PA sermon "O God, show us a black day for the Jews, the Americans, and their supporters"

Independent, Married to the jihad: the lonely world of al-Qa'ida's wives

VOANews.com - Online Jihad: How Terrorists Are Exploiting the Internet report, citing United States Institute of Peace, SITE Institute and Internet Haganah. Also has audio versions.

Al Quds, يوم اسود للامريكيين: مقتل مقاولين بهجومين 4جنود و للمقاومة العراقية

CNN.com - Revulsion at Iraq bodies display - Apr 1, 2004

Newsday.com - World News, Desecration of four Americans

Aljazeera.Net - Occupation personnel killed in Iraq
photos of the attack have been circulating on the net.

Aljazeera.Net - UK Muslims split over mosque terror letter

Independent, Muslim leaders blame Blair's war on Iraq for growing alienation more from MCB

Guardian Unlimited | Guardian daily comment | Aliens in their own country this page has some extremely useful links to related sites.

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Muslim leaders in plea to imams Yesterday I mentioned the statement emerging from MCB (Muslim Council of Britain) - here's some of the text from it.

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Rejected and dejected - the new generation of Muslims focuses on al-Muhajiroun, who I have written about elsewhere.

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | 'Suddenly my future is very insecure'