TREAS.GOV - Press Release - JS-2632: "TREASURY DESIGNATES MIRA FOR SUPPORT TO AL QAIDA" (PRESS RELEASE SNIPPET: "The U.S Department of the Treasury today designated the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), a U.K.-based Saudi oppositionist organization, for providing material support to al Qaida. MIRA is run by al Qaida-affiliated Saad al-Faqih, who was designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 by the Treasury on December 21, 2004 and is named on the United Nations 1267 Committee consolidated list of terrorists tied to al Qaida, UBL and the Taliban." (July 14, 2005)
INTERNET-HAGANAH.US: "Well bless their heart...The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has added Sa'ad Al-Fagih's Al Islah - Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia organization to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorist organizations, to wit: 07/14/05: The following [SDGT] entries have been added to OFAC's SDN list:" (July 14, 2005)
TREAS.GOV - U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY - From The Office of Public Affairs - JS-2164: "U.S. TREASURY DESIGNATES TWO INDIVIDUALS WITH TIES TO AL QAIDA, UBL Former BIF Leader and al-Qaida Associate Named Under E.O. 13224" (PRESS RELEASE SNIPPET: "The U.S Department of the Treasury today announced the designation of Adel Abdul Jalil Batterjee and Saad Rashed Mohammad al-Faqih for providing financial and material support to al Qaida and Usama bin Laden (UBL). The U.S. is submitting both names to the United Nations 1267 Committee, which will consider adding them to the consolidated list of terrorists tied to al Qaida, UBL and the Taliban. Batterjee and al-Faqih are not linked to each other.") (December 21, 2004)
ON THE NET...
Post no. 774
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1440941/posts?q=1&&page=774#774
"Heroes or Nettlesome Hacks?
Some Internet vigilantes think they’re fighting terrorism, but their efforts to shut down Web sites linked to Al Qaeda and other groups may be doing more harm than good."
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Brad Stone
Newsweek
Updated: 9:51 a.m. ET July 13, 2005
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8560624/site/newsweek/
===
===
Note: The following text is an exact quote:
---
http://www.internet-haganah.us/harchives/004493.html
July 15, 2005
Lies, damned lies, and...
...Newsweek.
First the official Internet Haganah response to this hit piece from the same magazine which recently inflamed the Muslim world with tales of "Quran desecration" which, as it turns out, were false:
I would like to respond to Brad Stone's story titled "Heroes or Nettlesome Hacks?" by very briefly explaining what it is that Internet Haganah actually does.
Internet Haganah, and its parent organization The Society for Internet Research, identifies, investigates, archives, analyzes, and, where appropriate, publishes information regarding the online activities of Islamic extremists.
This is not "vigilantism". Mr. Stone suggests that we "step aside" and stop publishing because some people don't understand or appreciate what we do.
Internet Haganah has never "shut down" a web site. Based on information we have published, companies that provide services to Islamic extremists have, with regularity, chosen to stop providing services when they discovered who their customers were. It is their right to do so.
If self-described "experts" - who get paid to translate and analyze the content of Islamic extremist websites - find such disruptions inconvenient, perhaps they should go into the business of hosting such sites, or at least make the effort to archive those sites. That's what we do.
Now, for my personal comments speaking as the victim of this story:
"Story" is a good word for it - more fiction than fact.
Brad Stone in a nutshell: dismissive, condescending, and uninformed.
The "vigilante" smear is downright insulting, libelous were it not for the fact that I am, as the lawyers say, "a public figure" (much to the dismay of Newsweek's paid "experts" I'm sure).
The first version of the story identified the Haganah site as "haganah.com", which is not an Internet Haganah domain. This leaves one to wonder if Mr. Stone actually looked at the site. After I pointed out this error to him that was corrected, but I have an archive of this version, just in case anyone wants to try and challenge my account of events.
One friend upon reading the story said
"Hmm, I wonder who put him up to this?"
It's a fair question to ask.
If there's a bright side here, it is that the days when a mainstream media outlet like Newsweek could be used to quickly ruin someone's reputation or credibility are over.
There is a particularly glaring omission in the story. Actually two.
First, I'm not an amateur, I make a modest living as a consultant whose expertise is in the area of internet use by Islamic extremists and methods of combatting that use. For that matter, Internet Haganah's senior analyst, and our translator, while they work with us for free, are also not amateurs. As for the "amateurs" who work most closely with me, they can run rings around most folks - including me - in terms of their analytical and investigative skills. What you know is who you know. I know some pretty darn good people.
Second, Rita Katz and Evan Kohlmann are business competitors of mine. Something to consider when reading their comments. As for what motivated them to make those comments, I can't say.
That jihadis think Internet Haganah is on a mission to blindly smack down websites is fine, but it's a little disconcerting to think that these paid "experts", who many opinion-makers and descision-makers rely on for analysis, can't manage to figure out what Internet Haganah actually does and does not do, especially since I've spelled it all out right here on this site in plain English.
Here's a clue guys: a little blue AK-47 posted on this site means nothing more than a website has been removed by a service provider or has otherwise become unavailable. It's not a claim of responsibility, and it certainly isn't evidence that we were in any way involved in that site going offline. It doesn't even mean we're happy about the site going offline. Just that the site's gone down.
Now, getting back to Brad Stone, Hamas did a better job of explaining what Internet Haganah does than he did. Of course, they *are* more familiar with our work.
And speaking of Hamas, you know, it's a funny thing, but the people most concerned with combatting Hamas are the Israelis, and judging from the reception I received on my last trip to Israel, three years of Internet Haganah focussing public attention on the websites of Hamas and the companies that keep them online has done nothing to hinder Israel's counter-terrorism efforts.
To quote a senior Israeli intelligence official, regarding the websites of Hamas and other Islamist terrorists:
"We have to do more than just watch the bastards."
And Internet Haganah will continue to do more than just watch.
Posted by aaron at July 15, 2005 12:57 PM
Note: The following text is an exact quote:
===
===
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2005/07/007209print.html
July 17, 2005
Treasury Designates UK's MIRA for Support to Al Qaida
From a US Treasury Department Press Release, with thanks to Sr. Soph.
The U.S Department of the Treasury today designated the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), a U.K.-based Saudi oppositionist organization, for providing material support to al Qaida. MIRA is run by al Qaida-affiliated Saad al-Faqih, who was designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 by the Treasury on December 21, 2004 and is named on the United Nations 1267 Committee consolidated list of terrorists tied to al Qaida, UBL and the Taliban.
"Al-Faqih uses MIRA to facilitate al Qaida's operations," said Stuart Levey, the Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI). "Designating MIRA will help stem the flow of funds to the organization and put the world on notice of its support for al Qaida."
Under his ideological and operational control, MIRA is the main vehicle al-Faqih uses to propagate support for the al Qaida network. MIRA's 1995 founding statement explicitly states that the organization is not limited to peaceful means in the pursuit of its objectives. According to information available to the U.S. Government, while head of MIRA, al-Faqih assumed the role of the al Qaida spokesperson in London following the arrest of senior Egyptian Islamic Jihad terrorist Yassir al-Sirri in 2001.
Information shows that statements on the MIRA website, including messages from Usama bin Laden and Abu Mus'ab al Zarqawi, are intended to provide ideological and operational support to al Qaida affiliated networks and potential recruits. According to recent information available to the U.S. Government, a senior al Qaida operative in Saudi Arabia sent articles to al-Faqih who then posted them to the MIRA website under the al Qaida operative's pennames.
In 2003, MIRA and Faqih received approximately $1 million in funding through Abdulrahman Alamoudi. According to information available to the U.S. Government, the September 2003 arrest of Alamoudi was a severe blow to al Qaida, as Alamoudi had a close relationship with al Qaida and had raised money for al Qaida in the United States. In a 2004 plea agreement, Alamoudi admitted to his role in an assassination plot targeting the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and is currently serving a 23 year sentence.
Al-Faqih has maintained associations with the al Qaida network since the mid-1990s, including with Khaled al Fawwaz, who acted as UBL's de facto representative in the United Kingdom and was associated with the 1998 East Africa embassy bombings. At the U.S. trial of the East African embassy bombers, prosecutors provided evidence that MIRA and al-Faqih paid for a satellite phone that al Fawwaz passed on to UBL, who allegedly used it to help carry out the attacks.
More on Al-Faqih from IslamOnline:
Dr. Saad Al-Faqih was until leaving Saudi Arabia 1994 consultant Laparoscopic surgeon to the main university hospital in Riyadh and professor of surgery in the Medical College. He had his MBBS from Riyadh 1981 and Followship in Surgey form Royal College of Glasgow on UK 1987.
Dr. Al-Faqih was not known publicly before the gulf war but was known by the Da'wa circles and some elite for activities in that limit. After the Gulf War he and few others formed a small group which became the force behind the famous Letter of Demands in 1991 and Nasiha Memorandum in 1992 and Comittee for Defence of Legitimate Rights (CDLR) in 1993. After the crackdown on this group he was imprisoned by the Saudi authorities. After his release the same group decided that their mission cannot continue without a base outside Saudi Arabia.
And as we know, he found safe haven in London.
Posted at July 17, 2005 09:33 AM