TERRORISM: AL-QAEDA WEBMASTER ARRESTED, SAY ISLAMIST FORUMS
Rome, 28 March (AKI) - One of the key webmasters who managed several al-Qaeda websites closed down in recent months has disappeared from the Worldwide Web, numerous messages posted to Islamist Internet forums have reported in recent days. The individual goes by the nickname of Irhabi 007 and was allegedly a founder member of the password-protected Muntada al-Ansar al-Islami (Islam Supporters Forum) and al-Eklas (Sincerity) websites. Al-Qaeda had been using both sites - which had thousands of users - for military instructions, propaganda and recruitment, according to the Washington Post newspaper, which broke the story of Irhabi 007's arrest.
Irhabi 007 is reportedly the nom de guerre of a 22-year-old West Londoner of North African origin, Younis Tsouli, arrested by British police last autumn after years of investigation. The police stepped up their probe following the July 2005 attacks on central London's transport system that killed 56 and injured 700. They managed to hunt down and seize Tsouli in London on 21 October, 2005. Irhabi means terrorist in Arabic.
In the house he was arrested in, investigators found several bogus credit cards, which Tsouli had used to purchase services from Internet providers on whose servers he allegedly disseminated his jihadist information. Apart from the labourious task of retracing his Internet operations, investigators have been confronted with the problem of al-Qaeda's ability to cover its Internet traces and throw them off the scent.
According to Islamist message board users, the arrest of Irhabi 007 and other jihadist hackers was due to painstaking detective work by the secret services of a number of Arab and Western countries, whose agents managed to infiltrate al-Qaeda's ranks.
Tsouli is reportedly more than a regular jihadi activist ready to back al-Qaeda. He is said to be a savvy, English-speaking and highly able individual, who taunted his pursuers, hacked into American university and local government computers, and propagandised for the Iraq insurgents led by al-Qaeda's number-one in the country, the Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Tsouli also allegedly taught other online Jihadists to harness the Internet to their cause, and overtly disseminated online weapons manuals, videos of beheadings, and other inflammatory insurgent feats, The Washington Post reported.
He is also alleged to have posted lists of vulnerable servers to the now-closed Islamist Web message boards, with instructions on how to access these, and how to publish the content of those less protected systems. Using these servers and other Web domains that incorporated his nickname, such as www.irhabi007.ca, Tsouli reportedly ensured the material he had posted remained available on the Internet in the event of a particular site being closed down - with the aim of hampering anti-terror investigators.
Such was the importance of Tsouli's organisational role that he even received messages of heartfelt thanks from users of the Muntada al-Ansar al-Islami forums, one of which was closed last year. He has been charged with eight offences, including conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to cause an explosion, cause a public nuisance and obtain money by deception, as well as offences relating to the possession of articles for terrorist purposes and fundraising, according to the Washington Post.
In the months preceding his arrest, Tsouli posted his will to the Internet, and provided links for users with information on how to hack into systems, as well as a jihadist advice column.
Irhabi 007 is reportedly the nom de guerre of a 22-year-old West Londoner of North African origin, Younis Tsouli, arrested by British police last autumn after years of investigation. The police stepped up their probe following the July 2005 attacks on central London's transport system that killed 56 and injured 700. They managed to hunt down and seize Tsouli in London on 21 October, 2005. Irhabi means terrorist in Arabic.
In the house he was arrested in, investigators found several bogus credit cards, which Tsouli had used to purchase services from Internet providers on whose servers he allegedly disseminated his jihadist information. Apart from the labourious task of retracing his Internet operations, investigators have been confronted with the problem of al-Qaeda's ability to cover its Internet traces and throw them off the scent.
According to Islamist message board users, the arrest of Irhabi 007 and other jihadist hackers was due to painstaking detective work by the secret services of a number of Arab and Western countries, whose agents managed to infiltrate al-Qaeda's ranks.
Tsouli is reportedly more than a regular jihadi activist ready to back al-Qaeda. He is said to be a savvy, English-speaking and highly able individual, who taunted his pursuers, hacked into American university and local government computers, and propagandised for the Iraq insurgents led by al-Qaeda's number-one in the country, the Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Tsouli also allegedly taught other online Jihadists to harness the Internet to their cause, and overtly disseminated online weapons manuals, videos of beheadings, and other inflammatory insurgent feats, The Washington Post reported.
He is also alleged to have posted lists of vulnerable servers to the now-closed Islamist Web message boards, with instructions on how to access these, and how to publish the content of those less protected systems. Using these servers and other Web domains that incorporated his nickname, such as www.irhabi007.ca, Tsouli reportedly ensured the material he had posted remained available on the Internet in the event of a particular site being closed down - with the aim of hampering anti-terror investigators.
Such was the importance of Tsouli's organisational role that he even received messages of heartfelt thanks from users of the Muntada al-Ansar al-Islami forums, one of which was closed last year. He has been charged with eight offences, including conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to cause an explosion, cause a public nuisance and obtain money by deception, as well as offences relating to the possession of articles for terrorist purposes and fundraising, according to the Washington Post.
In the months preceding his arrest, Tsouli posted his will to the Internet, and provided links for users with information on how to hack into systems, as well as a jihadist advice column.
posted by Marko at 3/28/2006 09:45:00 PM
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