[iwar] Militants wire Web with links to jihad (fwd)

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Date: 2002-07-10 19:15:58


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Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 19:15:58 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [iwar] Militants wire Web with links to jihad (fwd)
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Militants wire Web with links to jihad

By Jack Kelley, USA TODAY 

Jihadunspun.net supports a holy war against the West. 

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan =97 One Web site urges Muslims to travel to Pakistan to=
 "slaughter American soldiers." Another solicits donations to buy dynamite=
 to "blow up Israeli Jews." A third shows new videotape of Osama bin Laden=
 and promises film clips of American casualties in Afghanistan. As the=
 United States and its allies hunt them in caves, mountains and jungles,=
 al-Qaeda, Hamas and dozens of other militant Muslim groups are=
 increasingly turning to the Internet to carry on their jihad, or holy war,=
 against the West, U.S. law enforcement officials and experts say. It has=
 become one of al-Qaeda's primary means of communication, they say. The=
 groups use their Web sites to plan attacks, recruit members and solicit=
 donations with little or no chance of being apprehended by the FBI or=
 other law enforcement agencies, officials say.

This new cyber-battlefield is allowing al-Qaeda and other groups to stay=
 "several steps ahead" of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, a senior U.S. law=
 enforcement official says.

Most of the information on the Web sites is written in Arabic and=
 encrypted, or scrambled. The encrypted data is then hidden in digital=
 photographs, which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to find or read,=
 officials say. The groups regularly change the addresses of their Web=
 sites to confound officials.

By Ahmed Jadallah, Reuters 
Hamas gunmen march in Gaza last month. A Web site linked to the militant=
 Islamic group solicits donations for weapons: from $3 for each bullet to=
 $12,000 for a rocket-propelled grenade. 

"Under the present circumstances of the global war against terrorism, the=
 Internet has become a vital tool and, obviously, an easy one to exploit,"=
 says terrorism analyst Reuven Paz of the International Policy Institute=
 for Counter-Terrorism, an independent think tank based in Herzliya,=
 Israel. It's "the most efficient way (for terrorists) to spread their=
 message on a daily basis."

U.S. officials have little doubt that al-Qaeda and other militant groups=
 are using the Web to set up terrorist attacks against the United States.=
 They tell USA TODAY that Abu Zubaydah, 30, a Palestinian who was arrested=
 in Pakistan last March and is suspected of being bin Laden's operations=
 chief, used a Web site to plan the Sept. 11 attacks and to communicate=
 with the terrorists who hijacked jets and flew them into the World Trade=
 Center and Pentagon.

Earlier this year, officials say, they found nearly 2,300 encrypted=
 messages and data files in a password-protected section of an Islamic Web=
 site that had been downloaded onto Zubaydah's computer. The messages began=
 in May 2000, peaked in August 2001 and stopped Sept. 9, two days before=
 the attacks, officials say. They declined to identify the Web site.

Volume of messages doubles

Lately, al-Qaeda operatives have been sending hundreds of encrypted=
 messages that have been hidden in files on digital photographs on the=
 auction site eBay.com. Most of the messages have been sent from Internet=
 cafes in Pakistan and public libraries throughout the world. An eBay=
 spokesperson did not return phone calls.

The volume of the messages has nearly doubled in the past month, indicating=
 to some U.S. intelligence officials that al-Qaeda is planning another=
 attack.

Tuesday, al-Qaeda spokesman Suliman Abu Ghaith told an Arabic newspaper=
 that the group's suicide militants were "ready and impatient" to attack=
 U.S. targets in America and around the world.

Since Sept. 11, the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency say they have=
 hired dozens more Arabic-speaking analysts and mathematicians to interpret=
 and decode the information on the Web sites.

They add that there's little they can do to stop the terrorist groups from=
 using the Web to communicate. There are no laws directly regulating the=
 sites or preventing them from operating. Instead, officials must persuade=
 the companies that host the sites to shut them down. But as soon as a=
 terrorist site is taken off one Web server, it often appears on another,=
 officials say.

In the past five weeks, al-Qaeda's Arabic Web site, alneda.com, has emerged=
 on three different servers, in Malaysia, Texas and Michigan. The site was=
 eventually removed from the servers after the Web hosting companies, which=
 say they often don't screen or translate the sites, received complaints=
 from the public and law enforcement agencies. U. S. officials are=
 expecting the site, which began operating in January, to re-emerge soon.

"The U.S. enemy, unable to gain the upper hand over the mujahedin on the=
 battlefield, has since Sept. 11 been trying to gag the world media," said=
 a statement posted on alneda.com last week. "The more the United States=
 tries to stifle freedom of expression, the more determined we will become=
 to break the silence. America will lose the media war, too."

Hatred, hidden messages

There are dozens of suspected terrorist Web sites, many of which were=
 started after the U.S.-led war on terrorism began last fall. Most of the=
 Web sites are written in Arabic. All carry statements that express hatred=
 for the United States and its allies and fatwas, or religious rulings,=
 that call on militant Muslims to kill Americans and attack U.S. interests.=
 USA TODAY examined many of the sites and had the information there=
 translated from Arabic into English. Among the most prominent sites:

Azzam.com, a site that U.S. officials believe is linked with al-Qaeda, is=
 urging Muslims to travel to Pakistan and Afghanistan to fight "the=
 Jewish-backed American Crusaders," or U.S. soldiers. It gives such=
 travelers tips on how to avoid raising suspicions of employers, diplomats=
 and police. 
"If you are working, either resign from your job and take a year off or=
 request unpaid leave from your employer. Many large companies offer unpaid=
 leave to their employees for periods ranging from two months to one year.=
 That way you can fulfill your obligation (of jihad) and not have to give=
 up your job," the site says.

U.S. officials say azzam.com contains encrypted messages in its pictures=
 and texts =97 a practice known as steganography. They say the hidden=
 messages contain instructions for al-Qaeda's next terrorist attacks.=
 Mathematicians and other experts at the National Security Agency at Fort=
 Meade, Md., are using supercomputers to try to break the encryption codes=
 and thwart the attacks.

At least one known al-Qaeda operative has accessed the site, European=
 officials say. German intelligence agencies, which broke into the site=
 last fall, found an e-mail address for Said Bahaji, a suspected member of=
 the al-Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, that planned parts of the Sept. 11=
 attacks. Bahaji, who was last seen in Germany, has since disappeared.

Almuhajiroun.com, an English-language Web site also linked to al-Qaeda,=
 urges sympathizers to assassinate Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.=
 The Web site, which pictures Musharraf, refers to him as "the American=
 puppet." It calls U.S. troops in Pakistan and Afghanistan "soldiers of=
 Satan." 
"The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His apostle and=
 strive to make mischief in the land is only this: that they should be=
 murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on=
 opposite sides or they should be imprisoned," the site says in apparent=
 reference to Musharraf.

Qassam.net, a site U.S. officials believe is linked to the militant Muslim=
 group Hamas, is appealing for donations to purchase AK-47 rifles, dynamite=
 and bullets "to assist the cause of jihad and resistance until the=
 (Israeli) occupation is eliminated and Muslim Palestine is liberated." It=
 recommends donations of $3 per bullet, $100 per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of=
 dynamite, $2,000 for a Kalashnikov assault rifle and $12,000 for a=
 rocket-propelled grenade. 
Donors are asked to send an e-mail to an address on the Web site. Recently,=
 they received a response telling them to transfer money to "Ahmed Mohammed=
 Ali, Elbatech Bank, account no.: 38926/9/510 Arab bank =97 Gaza branch =97=
 Palestine." The account name and number appear to change every 48 to 72=
 hours. "Dear Donor: Please tell us the field in which you prefer your=
 money to be spent on such as: martyrdom attacks; buying weapons for the=
 mujahadeen; training the youth; or inventing and developing missiles,=
 mortars (and) explosives," the e-mail said.

U.S. officials say they are monitoring the site, which is hosted by an=
 American company, to see who is using it to donate to Hamas. They say they=
 intend to prosecute those Americans who contribute.

Until the site was taken down, alneda.com carried a warning from Abu Ghaith=
 saying the United States should "fasten its seat belt" and prepare for=
 more terrorist attacks. The site, which featured the words "No pride=
 without jihad," also contained encrypted information that directed=
 al-Qaeda members to a more secure site where instructions for attacks were=
 given, U.S. officials say.

Other Internet sites, including jihadunspun.net, offer a 36-minute video of=
 bin Laden, with four minutes of previously unaired footage; pictures of=
 President Bush with his head in the sights of a gun; and other propaganda.

Not all the Islamic Web sites are calling for a jihad against the United=
 States. The alsaha.com site has hosted chat rooms where members criticize=
 bin Laden and al-Qaeda for their misuse of Islam. "(Bin Laden) is a=
 disgrace to our religion and has made a mockery of everything we believe,"=
 said one comment posted on alsaha.com. "He is not an Islamist; he is a=
 terrorist who deserves to be killed. God bless and protect America!"

Easy to set up

It's easy for terrorists to set up a Web site, officials and experts say.

In the case of alneda.com, al-Qaeda members used a made-up name, "The=
 Center for Islamic Studies and Research," a bogus street address in=
 Venezuela and a free Hotmail e-mail account to contact a Web hosting=
 company in Malaysia called Emerge Systems, U.S. intelligence officials=
 say. The group then wired $87 to a Malaysian bank to pay for the cost of=
 the Web site for a year.

"Internet communications have become the main communications system among=
 al-Qaeda around the world because it's safer, easier and more anonymous if=
 they take the right precautions, and I think they're doing that," former=
 CIA counterterrorism chief Vince Cannistraro says.

But al-Qaeda operatives now are urging their members to use caution. Just=
 before alneda.com was pulled off its server, it warned its members that=
 the site was probably being monitored by the FBI, CIA and Customs Service.=
 It promised to e-mail members the new address of the Web site once it was=
 in operation. It also told them they could find the address in chat rooms=
 on other terror sites, such as Hamas' qassam.net.

"We strongly urge Muslim Internet professionals to spread and disseminate=
 news and information about the jihad through e-mail lists, discussion=
 groups and their own Web sites," says a statement on azzam.com. "The more=
 Web sites, the better it is for us. We must make the Internet our tool."

 http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/07/10/terrorweb.htm

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