Note: This article is posted intact EXCEPT for the photo/graphics that came with this article. WARNING: THIS ARTICLE IS VERY DISTURBING. This article is dated February 1, 2004 and the author is Jeremy Reynalds.
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Jeremy Reynalds
P O Box 27693
Alb., NM 87125-7693
www.joyjunction.org
Tel: (505) 400-7145
Shocking Pictures on al Qaida Affiliated Site Show Bush and Blair in a Coffin after Apparent Autopsy
A radical al Qaida affiliated web site is featuring shocking (presumably electronically enhanced) pictures of President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair lying in coffins after having apparently undergoing autopsies.
Large stitches are clearly visible covering much of both Bush's and Blair's chest. The pictures – still on line at the time of writing – are online at www.cihad.net, which according to researcher Aaron Weisburd's Internet Haganah (
http://haganah.org.il/jihadi/viewAllInfo-126.html) is " the Turkish-language site of Al Qaida affiliate Ansar al Islam, currently engaged in fighting US forces in Iraq. Ansar al Islam is known primarily for their work on biological and chemicals weapons from bases in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq, along the Turkish border. This group is believed to have played a role in the recent bombing of two synagogues in Istanbul."
The location of the Bush and Blair pictures (www.cihad.net/resimler/guncellektuel) also feature a number of other disturbing images.
Other graphic pictures are at a page titled "The American Hell in Iraq." www.cihad.net/resimler/irak/cehimamerikan/base2.html
A Feb. 2003 statement (www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2003/17823.htm) from the U.S. State Dept. Designated Ansar al Islam as a terrorist group. It read, "The terrorist group Ansar al-Islam has been designated under Executive Order 13224, effective today. That Executive Order blocks the assets of organizations and individuals linked to terrorism. Today's addition appears on the website of the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control ... Ansar al-Islam, which operates in northeastern Iraq, has close links to and support from al-Qaida. Al-Qaida and Usama Bin Laden participated in the formation and funding of the group, which has provided safehaven to al-Qaida in northeastern Iraq."
Some officials speculated Sunday that Ansar al-Islam may have been responsible for the recent suicide bombings in northern Iraq, which killed at least 56 and wounded more than 200.
A report on the Middle Eastern Media's Research Institute web site (
http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=iraq&ID=INW1303#IV_1) gave some indication of the trouble that Ansar al-Islam has caused in Northern Iraq.
It read in part "Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq maintain that the radical group Ansar Al-Islam, thought to have ties with Al-Qa'ida, is still considered a security threat to them despite the arrest of its leader... According to an official in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan [PUK], whose forces are trying to keep track of the group, ‘Ansar Al-Islam... planted mines in all of the south-eastern area of Kurdistan...' He added: ‘They have important military weapons, heavy machineguns, mortars and ammunition. We think that the Iraqi regime, and possibly Iran too, supplied them with these weapons, but we cannot verify that 100%...'
"Another Kurdish report from Al-Suleimaniya [northern Iraq], says that Ansar Al-Islam carried out an armed raid on the outskirts of the city of Halabja (north-east of Suleimaniya) and was confronted with combined forces of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and PUK. The incident resulted in six fatalities and 14 injuries. According to the dispatch ‘the preliminary investigation indicated that one of the fatalities among Ansar Al-Islam was an 'Arab Afghan' [who fought or trained with Al-Qa'ida in Afghanistan]…' Two other clashes, which resulted in additional fatalities, were reported later."
The site appears to be hosted by Canadian based SoftCom Technology Consulting (www.softcomca.com). An e- mail to the company requesting comment was answered with the response, "Greetings, cihad.net is not hosted by us. If you need further information, please send an email to
support@myhosting.com as we are available 24/7. Regards, Customer Support." However,www.myhosting.com is apparently owned by SoftCom Technology Consulting.
An automated response from My Hosting read in part "Our staff are available to respond to messages 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Messages are usually answered within 24 hours. We take internet abuse very seriously and will act as soon as possible to investigate your issue.
You should be receiving a personal response by e-mail from one of our staff shortly."
That response had not been received by press time. However, www.myhosting.com's acceptable use policy (
http://myhosting.com/Policy/aup.asp) reads in part "All hosting services provided to You by myhosting.com may only be used for lawful purposes. Transmission, distribution or storage of any Content in violation of any applicable law or regulation is prohibited. This includes, without limitation, material protected by copyright, trade-mark, trade secret or other intellectual property rights used without proper authorization, and material that is obscene, defamatory, constitutes an illegal threat, or violates export control laws."
In addition, e-mail requests for comment to the individuals apparently responsible for the content of www.cihad.net were not answered either.