Significant to this blog, in Deedat (and his followers) application of various media: Ahmed Deedat: A Relentless Caller to Islam With Wisdom By Hassan El-Najjar, August 14, 2005: "The famous caller to Islam, Shaikh Ahmed Deedat passed away at 87, at his home in the KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, on August 8, 2005. He left behind a legacy of encouragement and enthusiasm to the callers of Islam everywhere to be persistent in their efforts to explain Islam and educate both Muslims and non-Muslims about it all over the world."

slate.com, The Evildoers Do Super Mario Bros. - The War on Terror's least-frightening video games, Aug. 12, 2005 "Tom Friedman is right: We're in a war of ideas. In that war, it's a bad idea for a prominent American columnist to panic over innocent games with an Islamic theme. Video games do matter. Just not the ones from IslamGames. As Ummah Defense I would put it, "Subhanallah, Try Again!""

Observer, Belief isn't everything, 14 Aug 05 Nick Cohen sits in on a 'Women and Entrepreneurial London' conference at the London Muslim Centre (internet connection to story)

The Observer | UK News | Radical links of UK's 'moderate' Muslim group, 14 Aug 05 discusses alleged links between MCB and Islamic Foundation with Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and Mawdudi. See my book Virtually Islamic for a discussion on this issue - which is more complex than the sensational headlines make out.

albawaba.com middle east news information::Only in America: Palestinian fired because of song!!, 13 Aug 05: ""We decided to fire Bassam after it became clear to us that he has a website on the Internet in which he posts anti-U.S. provocative songs,” a US official has said. “Before Bassam was accepted as an employee, we checked his background and found nothing to prevent taking him on. But six months later we discovered that Bassam’s hobby, which is provocative rap songs, does not conform to our security demands. Therefore we fired him"." Internet rap storm.

CNN.com - Bluetooth helps Saudis break taboos - Aug 12, 2005:

"On a recent warm night, Abdullah Muhammad sat in front of his laptop at a sidewalk cafe waiting for his computer's Bluetooth to pick up nearby users.

"'I use Bluetooth to meet girls,' said the 24-year-old businessman. 'The religious police cannot catch me.'

"His long, dark hair combed back, Muhammad said when he sees a woman walking past, he presses the search button in the hope her phone's Bluetooth is on."

The Stranger - Books - Feature - Our Secret Sharers includes references to 'jihadi' activities on the net

Reporters sans frontieres - Internet - Saudi Arabia: "Saudi Arabia has created one of the world's biggest Internet filtering systems. The authorities have officially announced that they block access to nearly 400,000 webpages, with the aim of 'protecting citizens from offensive content and content the violates the principles of Islam and the social norms.'"

Scotsman.com News - Top Stories - Public pays for luxury life of cleric who preaches hatred, 11 Aug 2005: "The extremist Islamic cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed will undergo heart surgery costing thousands of pounds in an NHS hospital when he returns to Britain, it has emerged."

Asharq Alawsat Newspaper, Asharq Al-awsat Interviews Frank Gardner, 10 August 2005 incudes reference to 'cyber terrorism'

CNN.com - Feds recruiting hackers at Defcon - Aug 11, 2005: "As scam artists, organized-crime rings and other miscreants find a home on the Internet, top federal officials are trolling hacker conferences to scout talent and talk up the glories of a career on the front lines of the information wars."

BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Pakistan's mystical Islam thrives, 11 Aug 05: "The mystical form of Islam espoused by Sufi saints for hundreds of years continues to thrive in Pakistan despite opposition from religious hardliners and the authorities."

jamestown.org, Abu Mus'ab al-Suri and the Third Generation of Salafi-Jihadists, 11 Aug 05

The following series follow themes familiar to regular readers of this blog (and associated publications) - there are also some related videos and slideshows:

washingtonpost.com, Terrorists Turn to the Web as Base of Operations, 7 Aug 05

washingtonpost.com, Al Qaeda and the Internet, 8 Aug 05 transcript of discussion with Evan Kohlmann.

washingtonpost.com, The Web as Weapon: Zarqawi Intertwines Acts on Ground in Iraq With Propaganda Campaign on the Internet, 9 Aug 05

washingtonpost.com, The Iraq Insurgency's Online Strategy, 9 Aug 2005

The Inquirer, Iraq gets Internet domain name, 8 Aug 05: "The Interweb governing outfit ICANN has given the Iraqi people their .iq domain name back."

Muslim American Society, Fourteen U.S. Marines Killed in Iraq, 3 August 2005, "Ansar al-Sunna, an extremist group linked with the al-Qaeda network, said in an Internet statement it had killed eight U.S. Marines and captured a ninth in western Iraq. The U.S. military denied capture of any of its Marines."

In the Red Zone Steven Vincent's blog (see Times Online story below)

Times Online, Basra blogger is abducted and murdered, 3 August 2005 refers to Steven Vincent, whose columns have featured in this blogger's reading in the past (and have been linked here).

asharq alawsat, UK-based Islamist Believes the Internet is Al-Qaeda's New Leader, 2 August 2005

arabworldbooks.com, Contesting campus watch: Middle East studies under fire. The academy and democracy at risk, 1 Aug 05 opinion piece by miriam cooke, the focus being 'Campus Watch'. Some web links in this piece.