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"This is to raise awareness about the civilian toll in Iraq, and how a lot of them have been forced by the consequences of the invasion to become suicide bombers."

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

TROY — The Sanctuary for Independent Media will host a controversial exhibit in which an artist portrays himself as a suicide bomber on a mission to kill the president starting at 6 p.m. Monday. The exhibit, created by Wafaa Bilal, is described as a “Virtual Jihadi” and was recently suspended by officials at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute because of concerns about its intent and al-Qaida content. “Like many others, I did not have a chance to see Wafaa’s exhibit in its original form and hope the community will take advantage of this chance to appreciate it,” said Steve Pierce, an adjunct...

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A senior al-Qaida operative lived in New Jersey and posed as a student while conducting surveillance of financial institutions as possible targets for a terror attack, according to a published report. The operative, identified by U.S. officials in Washington as Dhiren Barot, 32, entered the United States on a student visa, The Record of Bergen County reported in Thursday's editions.

Unidentified young people set another car on fire in the night from Thursday to Friday during the fourth consecutive night of riots in Amsterdam's Slotervaart neighbourhood... The unrest began after two violent incidents ... Both times young Moroccan Dutch were involved. In the latest incident on October 14, 22-year-old Bilal Bajaka attacked two police officers at a police station with a knife. One of them pulled her gun and shot her attacker, who died on the spot. Amsterdam police chief Bernard Welten said the problems in Slotervaart were caused by a "core group of no more than 35 youths aged...

Mystery man in terrorist investigation WTVG-- March 2, 2006 - The trainer's identity may have been found. Here's the latest on the man who helped investigators piece together a case against three suspected terrorists. The so-called "trainer" is now linked to the Toledo-based Kind Hearts Organization, a Muslim charity. Employees say the Trainer was a part-time Kind Hearts employee known as "Balil". The Toledo Blade and Cleveland Plain Dealer identify Balil as 39-year-old Darren Griffin. It's believed he is no longer in Toledo and is under the protection of the federal government. Meanwhile, Kind Hearts says the Trainer often tried...

One of the terrorist suspects arrested in Britain this week is the man named in the report by the Sept. 11 commission as the operative al-Qaida sent to the United States to review possible economic and “Jewish” targets a few months before the terrorist attacks in 2001, NBC News reported Thursday. Two years earlier, the man, Abu Eisa al-Hindi, a British citizen of Indian descent, wrote a terrorist training manual describing how to kill enemy soldiers using remote-controlled explosives, grenades and automatic weapons, according to a copy of the manual obtained by NBC News. Referring to al-Hindi by his nom...

A terror suspect held in UK swoops was finalising plans to bomb Heathrow, it was believed last night. The plot’s details were on the computer of another al-Qaeda suspect seized in Pakistan. Al-Qaeda’s UK chief, codename Bilal, got his orders from Osama Bin Laden, via the Pakistani “postman”. Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan forwarded the command to the UK cell's chief. The Muslim, one of 12 terror suspects held after police swoops on Tuesday, was arrested after a tip-off that he was receiving direct orders from Bin Laden. The raids followed the arrest in Pakistan of computer expert Khan. He masterminded...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1132031/posts Fingerprint links Oregon with SpainOregonian Live ^ | May 08, 2004 | Marc Larabee, Steven Beaven, Kathleen Blythe, Bryan Denson and Lori Tobias This story could have "legs" that take us all over the US and the world re: Islamoterrorism. Someone better start seriously thinking about these terrorists in Kosovo....talk about a world sactioned breeding ground--Bosnian Arrested in Madrid Bombings Probe The FBI analysts also found indications that whoever left the fingerprint on the bag involved in the Madrid bombings had some connection to the Yugoslav province of Kosovo, where international Islamic extremists have been active. Some of the...

The final members of a group of Muslim men with Portland ties who tried, but failed, to enter Afghanistan as Taliban foot soldiers were each sentenced to prison time Monday morning.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The final three members of a group of Muslim men from the Portland area who tried to enter Afghanistan to join the Taliban were each sentenced to prison time Monday.They were among six men and one woman accused of conspiring to wage war on the United States.Palestinian-born Maher Hawash, 39, was sentenced Monday to seven years in prison. Ahmed Bilal, 25, was sentenced to 10 years and his brother, Muhammad, 23, was sent to prison for eight years.All were given reduced terms because they cooperated with authorities.``I do not blame anybody else except myself,'' Hawash said...

SYDNEY, Australia - Australia is willing to extradite two brothers convicted by a Lebanese military court of participating in attacks on American and British businesses, Prime Minister John Howard said Monday. The two men, Bilal and Maher Khazal, were convicted in absentia Saturday in Lebanon but remain free at their homes in Sydney because they have not been charged with crimes in Australia. They were among 32 people convicted Saturday by the military court in Beirut for the attacks. The brothers were each sentenced to 10 years in prison. "We are ready to extradite them if an extradition request is...

JEDDAH, 6 December 2003 — Saudi authorities have detained two expatriates for questioning. The two continue to be held in a jail in Jeddah for as yet unspecified reasons, Arab News has learned. David Heaton, a British national and convert to Islam, and Abdullatif Ibrahim Bilal, a US national, were taken into custody for questioning last Thursday. “We confirm that David Heaton is currently being detained,” Barry Peach, a spokesman for the British Embassy, told Arab News. “The embassy has requested a counselor to assist Heaton and has been in touch with his next of kin, but up to now...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2003 (202) 514-2008WWW.USDOJ.GOV TDD (202) 514 - 1888 TWO DEFENDANTS IN 'PORTLAND CELL' CASE PLEAD GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY TO CONTRIBUTE SERVICES TO THE TALIBAN, FEDERAL WEAPONS CHARGES WASHINGTON, D.C. - Attorney General John Ashcroft, Assistant Attorney General Christopher Wray of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Michael W. Mosman of the District of Oregon announced today that Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal and Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal, two defendants in the so-called "Portland cell" case, have pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to provide services to the Taliban, and conspiracy to possess and discharge firearms in...

FBI affidavit alleges imam bankrolled plot 08/23/03 LES ZAITZ One of six men charged with trying to join the Taliban and kill U.S. soldiers said Mohamed Abdirahman Kariye, leader of Portland's largest mosque, funded the overseas trip with $12,000 that came from mosque members, according to a newly released FBI affidavit. Defendant Jeffrey Battle also was secretly recorded telling how Kariye, religious leader of the Islamic Center of Portland, participated in a prayer session at the mosque with the group just before the men left and later directed them to return if they couldn't get into Afghanistan, the affidavit said....

After he was arrested on federal terrorism charges, Portland Seven defendant Jeffrey Leon Battle told investigators “that his intentions were to go fight in the jihad against American and coalition troops” and named other defendants as taking part in the alleged plot, according to recently filed court documents. Battle’s comments were detailed at length in a motion filed with the U.S. District Court by attorney Andrew Bates requesting that his client, Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal, be tried separately from the other defendants. In the motion, which was filed Wednesday, Bates alleges that Battle told a federal informant that he wanted to:...

Four days ago Warblogging reported on the story of Maher (Mike) Hawash. Mr. Hawash's problems have now been the subject of an article in the New York Times. Mr. Hawash is a programmer, working at Intel, who was detained by the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force as a material witness. He has so far spent just about two weeks in jail without being charged with a crime and without being questioned or told why he is detained. He is being kept in solitary confinement. Mr. Hawash was detained by FBI agents wearing helments, body armor and carrying assault rifles...

Sgt. Held in Attack Feared Persecution .c The Associated Press FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - A sergeant accused of killing a fellow serviceman by throwing grenades into tents at a military command center in Kuwait told his mother he feared persecution because he is a Muslim and reportedly had recently been reprimanded for insubordination. Sgt. Asan Akbar of the 101st Airborne Division's 326th Engineer Battalion was in custody, said George Heath, a civilian spokesman at Fort Campbell. Heath said Akbar had not been charged with a crime but was the only person being questioned in the attack that also wounded...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct 09, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A suspected American Islamic militant was deported Thursday from Malaysia to face charges of conspiring to fight with al-Qaida in Afghanistan, U.S. and Malaysian officials said. Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal was on a flight to the United States. Officials would not disclose the exact destination, but he was indicted last week in federal court in Portland, Ore. Bilal turned himself in Sunday. He had been in Malaysia since January, studying at an Islamic university but dropped out of sight after his indictment. A Malaysian judge cleared the way to...

U.S. Charges 6 in al-Qaida Plot Fri Oct 4, 1:45 PM ET By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Six people, including a former U.S. reservist, were charged with trying to travel to Afghanistan ( news - web sites) after the Sept. 11 attacks and join forces with al Qaida and the Taliban against the United States. U.S. Arrests 6 on Terror Charges (AP Video) Attorney General John Ashcroft ( news - web sites), announcing the arrests of four of of them at a Justice Department ( news - web sites) news conference Friday, called it a "defining...

U.S. Arrests 6 on Terror Charges Fri Oct 4, 1:21 PM ET By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Authorities arrested six men Friday in Oregon and Michigan on charges they conspired to wage war on the United States and provide support to al-Qaida. Attorney General John Ashcroft ( news - web sites), announcing the arrests at a Justice Department ( news - web sites) news conference, called it a "defining day" in the fight against terrorism. Ashcroft noted the sentencing in federal court Friday of John Walker Lindh and the guilty plea in Boston from accused shoe-bomber...

Just when you think you know somebody, he goes and gets himself detained by the FBI for questioning in connection with alleged ties to the terrorist network of Osama bin Laden. So, who do you stand by: your country or an individual who you've known all your life-but who may not be what he seems to be? Such is the predicament of the friends and relatives of James Ujaama, a 36-year-old American black Muslim convert also known as James Earnest Thompson and Ahmed Bilal, who was born in Denver, raised in Seattle, and moved to London in 1996 to worship...