Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Converts take on larger roles in militant Islam
MSNBC ^

Posted on 01/01/2006 11:15:55 AM PST by F14 Pilot

France - Despite his history as a convicted killer and radical Islamic fighter, Lionel Dumont had a real knack for charming the ladies.

Flashing a tender smile and soft brown eyes, the former French Catholic schoolboy seduced women in many parts of the world, using them as unwitting accomplices as he dodged arrest warrants and met clandestinely with Islamic radicals in at least 10 countries.

Two female German tourists whom he wooed separately on the beaches of Thailand served as cover for his travels as he secretly developed plots to transfer weapons and launder money, according to court testimony and European terrorism investigators.

At Dumont's trial in this northern French city in December, both women testified that they still could not believe their smooth-cheeked Romeo was an Islamic radical, even after they learned he was arrested two years ago in Munich in an international counterterrorism operation. "He's open and warm," said Celia dos Santos, 37, a travel agent who married Dumont, now 34, in a ceremony in Malaysia and brought him home to meet relatives in Germany and Portugal. "I would never think that he was involved in a terrorist act."

European counterterrorism officials and experts say Dumont is a prime example of how al Qaeda and other radical groups are drawing heavily on Islamic converts, who are increasingly taking on leadership roles in plotting strategy and launching attacks.

After converting to Islam in 1991, according to investigators, Dumont fought in Bosnia, was involved in a plot to bomb a gathering of leaders of the Group of Seven industrial nations in France in 1996 and spent years raising money and organizing cells in Europe and Asia.

Organization's changing face

Converts are prized by radical Islamic groups because

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Germany; News/Current Events; United Kingdom; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: america; arabs; asia; convert; converts; eu; france; islam; jihadineurope; lioneldumont; suicide; terrortrials; trop
Looks pretty bad for France in the coming year. In fact, most of Europe could be a dangerous place.
1 posted on 01/01/2006 11:15:56 AM PST by F14 Pilot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: F14 Pilot
fueled in part by a religious and political backlash over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

What...no Jew bashing?

2 posted on 01/01/2006 11:21:19 AM PST by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.
Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking the keyword Israel.

---------------------------

Converts take on larger roles in militant Islam, frequently discussed on FR.

3 posted on 01/01/2006 11:24:07 AM PST by SJackson (There's no such thing as too late, that's why they invented death. Walter Matthau)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: F14 Pilot

The 'new converts' are only fodder. I don't see the higher ups slapping on murder belts and blowing themselves to kingdom come. They leave that to the 'new idiot converts'.


4 posted on 01/01/2006 11:25:27 AM PST by processing please hold (Islam and Christianity do not mix ----9-11 taught us that)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SJackson

That's because most muslims don't consider the converts to be true muslims.


5 posted on 01/01/2006 11:34:54 AM PST by RJS1950 (The rats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: F14 Pilot

He is only a second-rate jihadist since he failed to blow himself up. Even that dumb broad from Belgium managed that.


6 posted on 01/01/2006 11:43:51 AM PST by Malesherbes
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RJS1950

Unfortunately, the converts really get involved, like Ibrahim (Dougy) Hooper. Did you ever see anything dumber than a 400 pound slob wearing that dumb little hat?


7 posted on 01/01/2006 11:47:58 AM PST by BW2221
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: F14 Pilot

HERE IS PRESIDENT BUSH'S AMMO

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1550295/posts



http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/default.htm#attacks

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/



8 posted on 01/01/2006 12:23:37 PM PST by CHICAGOFARMER (Right to Carry (RTC))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BW2221

THANK YOU! I'm glad someone found words to describe that CAIR moron.


9 posted on 01/01/2006 12:40:22 PM PST by RedRover
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: BW2221

This may not necessarily be bad news. It makes it easier to infiltrate. We need spys in their ranks.


10 posted on 01/01/2006 12:49:13 PM PST by WVNan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: F14 Pilot
I see that the Left media is promoting conversion to Islam.

How else to explain the sex, the intrigue, the thrill of it all?

These people disgust me.

11 posted on 01/01/2006 12:59:24 PM PST by Reactionary (The Liberal Social Order is a Hedonistic Idiocy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: F14 Pilot

12 posted on 01/01/2006 1:11:46 PM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RJS1950; SJackson; USF; AmericanArchConservative; Fred Nerks; DTogo; All
That's because most muslims don't consider the converts to be true muslims.

This is simply not true.

Coverts to Islam are considered by all Muslims to be better and more well versed in Islam that those who were simply born as a Muslim - In many cases, they tend to be more radical and extreme that their counterparts as well.

Quite often you can find a Muslim who has never actually read the Quran. It is very rare that you will ever find a convert who has never read the Quran.

You see a convert would have had to make a conscious decision to convert to Islam rather than simply being born as a Muslim.

In theory, conversion simply requires that a non-muslim prounouce the "shahada" - but in practice a person interested in conversion would need to understand at least basic Arabic and studied Islam under the tutelage of an imam or spiritual guide.

An American Expat in Southeast Asia

13 posted on 01/01/2006 3:00:40 PM PST by expatguy (http://laotze.blogspot.com/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: F14 Pilot
Converts have always been some of the most dedicated fighters in Islam, if you remember the Ottoman's elite Janissaries were originally Christian's captured and converted in childhood.
14 posted on 01/01/2006 4:46:05 PM PST by Madison Moose
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: F14 Pilot

In Italy, young women converting to Islam has been a big issue.


15 posted on 01/01/2006 10:31:25 PM PST by familyop (Fire Jezebel, and hire Elijah.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: F14 Pilot
These converts still make up only a minuscule percent of Islamic terrorists, stories like this are the equivalent of those ridiculous multiracial street gangs on TV a decade or two ago - a sly defense of multiculturalism.
16 posted on 01/01/2006 11:14:29 PM PST by jordan8
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BW2221

"Did you ever see anything dumber than a 400 pound slob wearing that dumb little hat?"

Yea, that guy who was popping up on Fox & CNN for a long time as a spokesman for the islamic terror organization...... Hussein Ibish or Insane Rubbish, whatever his name was....the "Neuman" of cable news. You just want to slam a good-ole Stanley, fiberglass-handled shovel square in his face every time he appears.



17 posted on 01/01/2006 11:21:20 PM PST by RouxStir (Peaceful Muslim?.....The Ultimate Oxymoron.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: F14 Pilot

The Muslims have a major recruiting program in US prisons.


18 posted on 01/03/2006 11:14:57 AM PST by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: expatguy

All true, but that does not take away from the fact that arab state and Iranian, Pakistani Moslems tend to look down on converts who are not born muslim. Take a look at the attitude of these groups toward Bosnian/East European and far eastern moslems. Even after 700 to 1200 years they don't fully accept these moslems as being anything other than conquered peoples. They do next to nothing to help these groups in times of disaster and certainly did not support them during the Bosnian conflicts. Regardless of their piety, their knowledge of the koran or of islam they see them like the red-headed stepchild. Maybe this is because they are not like them culturally or maybe it is because they are in countries/regions that are generally somewhere near the 21st century in terms of thinking and are not mired in the 8th century.


19 posted on 01/03/2006 12:43:26 PM PST by RJS1950 (The rats are the "enemies foreign and domestic" cited in the federal oath)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: ncountylee

And among African-Americans in the Military


20 posted on 01/03/2006 8:34:49 PM PST by F14 Pilot (Democracy is a process not a product)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson