TheNewsTribune.com | Tacoma, WA, Threats force Muslims to move youth retreat from Presbyterian camp, 6 Jan 06: "A weekend retreat for young Muslims was moved from a Presbyterian campground to a secret location after Internet bloggers alleged a scheduled speaker had terrorist ties, prompting death threats.

"The retreat for teaching Muslims about religion and youth leadership skills was scheduled at the Presbyterian Cedarkirk Camp and Conference Center. Then Web logs reported that one speaker, Mazen Mokhtar of North Brunswick, N.J., had ties to al-Qaida."

Times Online, Al-Qaeda suspect fears torture after extradition order, 6 Jan 06 discusses allegations associated with Haroon Rashid Aswat, and his ongoing appeal: "US officials told earlier hearings in London that on his trip to Oregon in 1999 Mr Aswat brought CD-Roms with him containing instructions for using explosives and poisons"

Khaleej Times Online, Pictorial tribute to Shaikh Maktoum, 6 Jan 06

Reuters, Galloway joins "Big Brother", 6 Jan 06: "George Galloway, whom U.S. congressional investigators accuse of profiting from the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq, has joined a celebrity version of TV reality show 'Big Brother'." This can be followed in excruciating detail via the web as well as TV. See Channel 4 Big Brother. There may be some references to recent events from Mr Galloway.

Guardian Unlimited, Hotel collapse in Mecca leaves at least 18 pilgrims dead, 6 Jan 06

Chicago Tribune, 130 killed in Iraq bombings, 6 Jan 06: "Suicide bombings outside a shrine and a police recruiting center and a roadside blast south of Karbala killed at least 125 Iraqis and five Americans on Thursday, one of the deadliest days since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003."

TCS Daily - Technology Is Amoral; People Are Another Story Opinion piece: "It has been reported that al Qaeda has been using data mining to select potential targets, using the same methods that companies use to find customers. By collecting intelligence on possible targets, especially critical economic nodes, and entering that information into a database, terrorist groups can identify structural weaknesses in facilities as well as predict the larger overall effects of an attack." I am discussing this issue in my next book.

Note to regular readers: a 'round-up' of significant stories from the past few weeks follows. I have had hard-drive meltdown. This blog will resume its usual 'pattern' in the next week.

Dar al-Hayat, Al-Zirqawi in Lebanon?, 3 Jan 06, "Is al-Zirqawi in Lebanon now? Statements on the Internet websites can take him anywhere. Yet, announcing that his organization is responsible for launching missiles from South Lebanon toward Israeli settlements is a clear message to the Americans rather than the Israelis."

The Media Line, Hamas Appeals to Kids Online, 26 Dec 05 Opinion piece: "Hamas has become famous for its 'Da'awa' (proselytizing) activities, which include such areas as social welfare, medical care, education, kindergartens, and soup kitchens. Another method, also used by other terror organizations such as Al-Qa'ida, is the Internet. Hamas has several websites, including monthly (Filastin Al-Muslima), weekly (A-Risala), and daily (Palestine Info) updated sites. In September 2002 the movement began publishing an online children's magazine, Al-Fateh (The Conqueror). This website invariably portrays various methods of fighting the "Zionist enemy," using cute cartoons alongside graphic photos of bleeding corpses.

"In its current issue, The Conqueror explains more ways – some old, some new – to fight the enemy. It also expresses the wish that Islam will once again rule over the region of Andalusia, better known today as Spain."

IRNA, University official: Most Iranian Internet sites under US supervision, 22 Dec 05, "Head of Universities Jihad Movement said here Wednesday, "Presently, most Iranian Internet sites are under supervision and power levers of the United States."
According to IRNA Culture Desk, Ali Montazeri made the remark at a nationwide conference titled 'Network Marketing' held by Universities Jihad Complex, adding, "During the past few months alone some four thousand Iranian Internet sites have been blocked." Montazeri meanwhile informed, "The Internet site of Universities Jihad Movement that included merely the latest academic, educational, and research articles, too, is among the sites that have been blocked by the US government, on the pretext of campaign against terror organizations.""

Human Events Online, Iranian Women Provide Catalyst for Change, 20 Dec 05, Opinion piece: "Today with the publication of her book, Ghazal Omid has become an important spokesperson for the Iranian Islamic and non Islamic expatriates working for regime change in Iran,. And like her sisters in arms, Pari and Roya, she is a target and cannot be adequately protected. Her excellent website, www.livinginhell.com, she established to promote not just her book but her cause—the liberation of Iran. Shortly after the publication of her book, she decided to shut down her website for two months due to the high volume of death threats she was receiving. I asked her if she contacted the Canadian police and if she could give me an idea of what a typical death threat might say.

"Yes, we could trace them [the death threats]. Most of them came from Turkey, Pakistan and Iran,” Ghazal said in an almost upbeat fashion. "Many said things such as—you’ll roast in hell." The implication being when they killed her, God will send her to the devil."

adkni.com, 'al-Qaeda militant resurfaces in video, 19 Dec 05, "Six months after his escape from the US detention centre on the Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, the suspected Islamic terrorist, Abu Yahya al-Libbi has resurfaced in a new video that has been broadcast on various Islamic forums on the Internet. In the video, al-Libbi is seen marching together with a group of militants in Afghanistan. The escaped prisoner was presented in the film as a leading representative of the al-Qaeda terrorist network who is involved in preaching."

NYT, Dutch Struggle to Prevent Terror and Protect Rights, 25 Dec 05 subscription piece

IHT, Cartoons ignite cultural combat in Denmark, 1 Jan 06

Scientific American, Virtual Jihad, Dec 26, 2005 "According to Gabriel Weimann, a professor of communications at the University of Haifa in Israel, the number of all terrorist Web sites--those advocating or inciting terrorism or political violence--has grown from a dozen in 1997 to almost 4,700 today, a nearly 400-fold increase. (By comparison, the total number of Web sites has risen about 50- to 100-fold.) The enumeration includes various Marxist, Nazi and racist groups, but by far the dominant type, according to Weimann, is the Islamist-jihadist variety, which accounts for about 70 percent."

Haaretz.com, Sex and the sharia, 1 Jan 06. Interesting article by Zvi Bar'el, whom I recall has published before on relted themes. It draws on a number of significant sources: "Sheikh Wael al-Zered, one of the most popular preachers in Gaza and a member of an association of sharia scholars, admits that sex and the handling thereof suffers from neglect, since "if the young people do not learn from us about sex, they will learn it from others," in other words from pornography and from Western newspapers. However, he explains that the problem is that the preachers themselves suffer from a lack of knowledge as to how to explain the subject, and are embarrassed to talk about sex in public."

AP/CNN, Gunman kills five Saudi policemen, 27 Dec 05 "With the capture of al-Suwailmi, police have also now killed or captured eight of the 15 suspected militants believed to still be in the country who were on a list of most wanted terrorists issued in June. Some 21 others on the list are believed to be outside Saudi Arabia.

"Al-Suwailmi, 23, is an expert on the Internet and was involved in recruitment and propaganda for Islamic militant groups in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya reported." Refers to the capture of Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Mohammed al-Suwailmi in Buraydah, SA

followed by: Ireland On-line, Wounded terror suspect dies in Saudi custody, 28 Dec 05 " ... One of Saudi Arabia’s most wanted militants has died in custody after being wounded in a running gun battle in which he killed five policemen, the Interior Ministry said today ...

"The Saudi authorities initially reported his death in September, giving al-Suwailmi the pleasure of releasing an audiotape on the internet in which he said he was alive and well. The authorities then said they had mistaken him for his brother, Ahmed, who had just been killed in a shootout with security forces."

Iran Press Serive, "They Are Closing God’s Space To Us", Lamented Former Speaker, 28 Dec 05 "Hojjatoleslam Mehdi Karroubi, a “pillar” of the Islamic Revolution has decided to sue Mr. Ali Larijani, the new Secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council of National Security (SCNS) for having banned the 'Saba Television' from activities in Iran, opening a new challenge to the new islamo-populist President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad."

Sydney Morning Herald, Wanted: home-grown imams to give Islam an Australian voice, 29 Dec 05 "With few imams able to speak English, and with mosques unable to provide a culturally relevant version of Islam, it is little wonder many young people flock to the more radical sheiks. One of these, Feiz Mohamed, was brought up in Australia and speaks fluent English. He heads the Global Islamic Youth Centre in Liverpool.

"Many will remember Feiz for his remarks attributing sexual assault to the manner in which some women dress. But for thousands of young Muslims, Feiz is the only person who stands between them and jail or drugs.

"Feiz might have some unusual views on theology, but his ability to relate to young people has enabled him to attract a large following. His centre is welcoming to young people; its prayer hall doubles as an indoor sports arena, it has internet facilities, a gym, a cafeteria, and a multimedia and book store. All classes are conducted in English. Women are welcome."

Charleston.net, Extremism a challenge for many Muslims, 1 Jan 06 "The evidence against Abu Ali included wiretapped phone conversations between the student and his family, as well as e-mail messages recovered from an Internet service provider." Retread on the Ahmed Omar Abu Ali case.

AP/myrtlebeachonline.com, Moderate Muslims take new tactic in fatwa war, 1 Jan 06, "It's becoming known as the war of the fatwas: the dizzying exchange of proclamations between Islamic moderates and militants on what it means to be Muslim. The duels have been waged in pamphlets and on the Internet."

AP/NewsTribune.com, Technology to unveil Islamic history to the world, 31 Dec 05, Exciting news from Princeton: "In a marriage of new technology and old documents, a vast treasure trove of information about life in the early Islamic world is about to go online, enabling Muslims, scholars and the merely curious to peer into a window on the faith’s rich history.

"Numbering more than 10,000 texts, Princeton University’s collection of handwritten Islamic documents, books and letters is the largest in North America. They date from the eighth century – soon after the faith was founded – to the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900s; most have gone unseen outside New Jersey for nearly a century."

In These Times, Iran's Anti-Gay Pogrom, American gay rights groups are ignoring systematic persecution in the Islamic Republic, 4 Jan 06 includes associated internet references

Strategy Page, Young, Clueless and Dead, 4 Jan 06 Opinion piece: "The new generation, inspired by terrorist propaganda on the Internet, or in the Arab media, are being killed off so rapidly that their fate is having an adverse effect on recruiting. Young Islamic radicals are no longer running off to join the war in Iraq with any prospects of coming back alive. Those that do come back in one piece, are often not much help for recruiting. They tell of deadly American troops, and a hostile Iraqi population."

Independent, Amr Khaled: Islam's Billy Graham, 4 Jan 06, "It is a powerful metaphor for the work of a religious and marketing phenomenon called Amr Khaled, who is trying to pump oxygen into the arid lives of Muslim youth. Amr (rhymes with "charmer") Khaled is the Arab world's first Islamic tele-evangelist, a digital age Billy Graham who has fashioned himself into the anti-Bin Laden, using the barrier-breaking power of satellite TV and the internet to turn around a generation of lost Muslim youth."

Asia Times, Islam becomes hot topic in Malaysia, 3 Jan 06 well, it has always been a 'hot topic' - this discussion refers to prominent subjects in chat rooms at present: "Two dissimilar events coming one after the other in late December have put religion on notice. One was passage of an Islamic family law, opposed by feminists and moderate Muslims. The other was the forced burial, according to Muslim rites, of a Hindu soldier by Islamic authorities who insisted he had converted to Islam."

Arab Times, Ex-Mujahed Talks About Extremist Groups, 3 Jan 06. Interview with Saad Ali Al-Shehri. "Shehri added that the Internet has made it easier to target susceptible youth, but also expressed optimism in the current backlash against the so-called global jihad.

"I am very optimistic that many men who went astray are coming back. Even some sheikhs are regretting their issuing violent fatwa’s and have since corrected their position," said Shehri. “Many of them came to the right path after the royal pardon was issued."

"The Mujahedeen veteran ended his interview by re-emphasizing the need for parents to play an increasingly active role in controlling their children’s exposure to deviant propaganda."

Zone-H, The financing of terrorism through capital from a legitimate source (money-dirtying), 2 Jan 06, Opinion piece: "Money is an effective tool for all serious criminal organizations, including terrorist networks. Money-laundering and money-dirtying (i.e.: the financing of terrorism through capital from a legitimate source) are issues that affect countries at all stages of development. Tracking terrorists' financial transactions and funds can be more difficult than following the money-laundering trail of organised criminal groups because most terrorism financing channels are legitimate and their involvement in illegal activities may remain unsuspected."

Reuters, Multiple attacks on Iraq's bloodiest day in weeks, 4 Jan 06 "A group called the Islamic Army in Iraq claimed responsibility for the assault in an Internet statement, saying the convoy belonged "to the enemy occupier", a reference to the 150,000 U.S. troops stationed in the country."