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Al-Qaeda woos recruits with nuclear bomb website
The Sunday Times (U.K.) ^ | 11/05/05 | Uzi Mahnaimi and Tom Walker

Posted on 11/05/2005 5:08:05 PM PST by Pokey78

AN Al-Qaeda website containing detailed instructions in Arabic on how to make nuclear, “dirty” and biological bombs has attracted more than 57,000 hits and hundreds of readers’ inquiries. Terrorism experts are warning that the site could be boosting the organisation’s appeal to would-be assassins in Britain and abroad. The manual, posted on October 6 on a forum titled Al-Firdaws, or Paradise, contains 80 pages of instructions and pictures of kitchen bomb-making techniques. It is divided into nine lessons under the overall heading The Nuclear Bomb of Jihad and the Way to Enrich Uranium, and is dedicated as a “gift to the commander of the jihad fighters, Sheikh Osama Bin Laden, for the purpose of jihad for the sake of Allah”.

As well as describing how to make a nuclear bomb from enriched uranium — impossible for the layman — the manual explains how to make simple bombs that can blow up anything from electrical generators to petrol stations.

The site encourages its readers to look for materials such as radium, which it says is an “effective alternative to uranium and available on the market”. It is unclear who the author is or where he is based: he describes himself simply as “Layth al-Islam”, or the “Lion of Islam”, belonging to a group called “the Black Flags”.

“Fight them so that Allah will punish them at your hands and will put them to shame and will give you victory over them,” he writes, quoting the Koran. “Perhaps nuclear weapons represent a technology of the 1940s. However, the Crusaders, the allies of the Satan, Allah’s curse be upon them, insist on depriving the jihad fighters of the right to have these weapons.”

The site’s appeal is evident from the enthusiasm of its correspondents. One of the most recent, Mariyam al-Jihadiyya, writes: “God bless you for this precious topic . . . fight them, through your hands God tortures them . . . and heal the hearts of the faithful people.” Beneath she includes a couple of pictures for her hero. “I love you, Osama,” she writes.

Other users complain that not all the site’s links are activated, and several urge caution. “Don’t talk about things you don’t understand,” writes one. For enthusiasts there are links to a mailing service that provides regular updates on bomb-making techniques.

Nuclear physicists were alarmed by the site. “Normally you just get generic principles, but this appears to be more like a proper instruction manual,” said John Hassard, reader in physics at Imperial College, London. “The thing about this website that is striking is that it is very particular. A lot of effort has been put into it.”

He said that while it was highly unlikely that amateur bomb-builders could get hold of fissile material, smuggling networks with access to nuclear materials from the break-up of the Soviet Union could use the information.

“It is a very real threat and one which we can’t afford to ignore,” he said. “I would say this is public enemy No 1.”

Experts on Al-Qaeda said the organisation appeared to be moving from a phase where it preached a fatwa permitting the use of weapons of mass destruction — issued two years ago — to one where it encourages its followers to produce both “dirty” bombs and smaller devices similar to those used in the London Tube attacks.

“Al-Qaeda strives to move directly from the stage of obtaining the WMD to the stage of using it,” said Matti Steinberg, an Israeli expert on the organisation. He said efforts by Al-Qaeda, whose members are Sunni Muslims, to produce a nuclear weapon also reflected its fear that Shi’ite Iran was on the brink of producing a bomb. Bin Laden wanted to “balance the efforts by Iran to obtain the first Shi’ite bomb by building the first Sunni one”.

While assessing the website’s influence on young British Muslims is difficult, terror experts believe it is an important potential recruiting tool.

Jeevan Deol, a terrorism analyst at the London School of Oriental and African Studies, said that while Al-Qaeda could not match western military capabilities and intelligence, its use of “cyberwarfare” helped redress the balance.

“They are using the web in a focused way for propaganda and recruiting,” said Deol. “Some jihadi kid in Leeds clicks on it and thinks, ‘Wow, 50,000 hits — we don’t see Osama on telly any longer but we’re big, we’re bad and extremely engaged in all these things’.”

Additional reporting: Widiane Moussa and Flora Bagenal


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; alqaedanukes; gwot; nuclear; nuclearbomb; nuclearweapons; nukes; recruits; terrorists; waronterror; wmd; wot
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To: bnelson44

They leave them up so they can bust curios citizens. It makes the fuzz look good.


21 posted on 11/05/2005 5:45:24 PM PST by PositiveCogins
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To: FairOpinion
Who's to say he's confirming working plans?
22 posted on 11/05/2005 5:54:19 PM PST by Bogey78O (Live from Hurricane Katrina- Western St. Tammany Division)
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To: Bogey78O

I had a look at that website, but the only impression that I got is that modern-day muslim extremists know more about 1400+ year old nonsense from some false prophet's book than about nuclear weapons.


23 posted on 11/05/2005 5:57:46 PM PST by Bazooka (Just say what you think. They hate our guts anyway.)
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To: soltice

Thanks for the info.

I hope some of that tracking software belongs to the CIA and they track the terrorists visiting the site ( and can tell the difference between real terrorists and curious, interested people)


24 posted on 11/05/2005 6:04:30 PM PST by FairOpinion (CA Props: Vote for Reform: YES on 73-78, NO on 79 & 80, NO on Y)
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To: samtheman

Interesting location of the actual web server for these "jihadists" ...

OrgName: Hosting-Network GmbH
OrgID: HOSTI-3
Address: 247 Mitch Lane
City: Hopkinsville
StateProv: KY
PostalCode: 42240
Country: US


25 posted on 11/05/2005 6:16:40 PM PST by soltice
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To: soltice

Looks like ixWebhosting, a commercial webhosting company. They should be held liable for this.


26 posted on 11/05/2005 6:19:08 PM PST by samtheman
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To: Pokey78

Join Al Qaeda and die for nothing.


27 posted on 11/05/2005 6:43:51 PM PST by popdonnelly
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To: nevergore
Building a basic atomic bomb on 1940's principals is east for any decent machinist.....

One can easily look at the blue prints for the U.S. Mark-III nuclear weapon (FatMan) as it is entire declassified except for the nuclear trigger. Much of the Mark-I bomb (Littleboy) design is also declassified. The truth is a nuclear bomb using HEU is a very simple design and would not be difficult to build. The challenge would be getting enough HEU, forming it into the necessary shapes, and then getting the high explosive shaped charged to detonate properly.

28 posted on 11/05/2005 6:48:01 PM PST by COEXERJ145 (http://www.navyfield.com)
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To: COEXERJ145

The sad issue is even if they are somewhat off on the charge and the shape, they device would still go "atomic" although the yield would be less......depending on the size, quality and amount of fissionable material a Hiroshima size yield could be expected.


29 posted on 11/05/2005 6:52:58 PM PST by nevergore (“It could be that the purpose of my life is simply to serve as a warning to others.”)
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To: nevergore
It's possible but they might also might end up with nothing but a radiological bomb which doesn't produce nuclear yield. The main obstacle is getting enough highly enriched uranium (60% or better U-235) which isn't easy to come by. Reactor fuel wouldn't be good enough.
30 posted on 11/05/2005 7:42:37 PM PST by COEXERJ145 (http://www.navyfield.com)
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To: bnelson44
"Why aren't these sites shut down?"

The site is hosted by "Al-Firdaws Company" in Amman, Jordan (from an Internet whois query on the domain shown in comment #6).

I'm surprised, because I assumed that it was probably another site hosted in Britain.
31 posted on 11/05/2005 7:50:12 PM PST by familyop ("Let us try" sounds better, don't you think? "Essayons" is so...Latin.)
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To: soltice

Hi Soltice.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mojahedon/

FYI...That was one of the links, but now the yahoo group is:
"Group not found."


32 posted on 11/05/2005 8:19:45 PM PST by Cindy
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To: CommandoFrank

Hacking is a crime.
I understand your sentiment, though.

It seems there are a lot more work accidents lately
in the news. Careless terrorists, I guess.


33 posted on 11/05/2005 8:21:44 PM PST by Cindy
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To: Bazooka

OPINION: The jihadis like to mirror their sites, cut and paste to other sites, etc.


34 posted on 11/05/2005 8:23:35 PM PST by Cindy
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To: Cindy
Hacking is a crime.

As is building bombs to kill people...

35 posted on 11/05/2005 8:27:22 PM PST by CommandoFrank (Peer into the depths of hell and there you will find the face of Islam...)
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To: CommandoFrank

Yep.


36 posted on 11/05/2005 8:40:21 PM PST by Cindy
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To: soltice

It hasn't been removed from memri.org.

The links found on the front web site of memri.org
are temporary urls.


37 posted on 11/05/2005 8:43:28 PM PST by Cindy
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To: All
On The Net...

"memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP100405"

38 posted on 11/05/2005 9:34:47 PM PST by Cindy
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To: Gucho; JohnathanRGalt; backhoe; All

OFF TOPIC...

http://www.internet-haganah.us/harchives/005257.html
05 November 2005
"Speaking of the next generation of jihadi terrorists..."

===
===

ON THE NET...

http://www.mujahedon.net



39 posted on 11/05/2005 9:58:00 PM PST by Cindy
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To: Pokey78

40 posted on 11/06/2005 10:36:40 AM PST by rickmichaels (The first casualty of war is a moonbat's brain.)
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