http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2120099,00.html By David Pallister July 6, 2007 The Guardian Three men, including the top computer expert for al-Qaida in Iraq, were sent to prison yesterday for spreading extremist jihadi material through their websites. It was the first UK prosecution for inciting terrorist murder on the internet. At Woolwich crown court the ringleader, Moroccan-born Younis Tsouli, 23, from Shepherd's Bush, west London, was given 10 years. Using the nickname Irhabi007 - Arabic for terrorist and the code name of James Bond - he facilitated the distribution of messages from the al-Qaida leadership and videos of beheadings and military attacks by Abu Musab al- Zarqawi's group in Iraq. Tariq Al-Daour, 21, a British citizen born in the United Arab Emirates, was jailed for six-and-a-half years. Waseem Mughal, a Leicester University biochemistry graduate, who was born in the UK, was given seven-and-a-half-years. Earlier this week all three pleaded guilty to inciting another person to commit an act of terrorism wholly or partly outside the UK which would, if committed in England and Wales, constitute murder. They also admitted conspiring together and with others to defraud banks, credit card companies and charge card firms. Passing sentence, Mr Justice Openshaw said the men engaged in "cyber jihad", with direct incitements to kill non-Muslims. But he said none of them had come anywhere close to carrying out acts of violence themselves. Referring to Tsouli, he said: "He came no closer to a bomb or a firearm than a computer keyboard." The judge said Tsouli should be deported to Morocco after serving his time. Investigators and vigilantes who monitor jihadi internet traffic dubbed Irhabi007 the "godfather of cyber-terrorism for al-Qaida" in Iraq while he was active from early 2004 until his arrest in October 2005. In May 2004 he helped to distribute a video of the beheading by Zarqawi of an American contractor in Iraq, Nicholas Berg. It was downloaded half a million times in the first 24 hours. By hacking into unprotected web servers he was able to use a mechanism known as file transfer protocol to post large files and videos, including videos made by an al-Qaida affiliate group in Saudi Arabia responsible for attacking housing used by foreign staff. He was caught when two terrorist suspects were arrested in Bosnia and their mobile phones and email records led to the detention of more than 30 people in North America and Europe. _____________________________________________________ Attend Black Hat USA, July 28-August 2 in Las Vegas, the world's premier technical event for ICT security experts. Featuring 30 hands-on training courses and 90 Briefings presentations with lots of new content and new tools. Network with 4,000 delegates from 70 nations. Visit product displays by 30 top sponsors in a relaxed setting. Rates increase on June 1 so register today. http://www.blackhat.com
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