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Recent Appearances...

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Swedish Muhammad cartoon artist said killed in car accident

2021-10-04

[IsraelTimes] Lars Vilks, 75, who received death threats for drawing the Prophet with a dog’s body, was reported killed when a truck hit the car he was traveling in with 2 police escorts.

The Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who had lived under police protection since his 2007 sketch of the Prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body brought death threats, died from a traffic accident Sunday, Swedish news media reported.

The accident reportedly involved a truck colliding with a civilian police car in which Lars Vilks and his police protection were traveling, news media said.

The Swedish news agency TT said police had confirmed that Vilks, 75, was traveling in the car with two coppers, and the newspaper Dagens Nyheter said the artist’s partner confirmed his death.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.

Vilks was largely unknown outside Sweden before his Muhammad drawing. At home, he was best known for building a sculpture made of driftwood in a nature reserve in southern Sweden without permission, triggering a lengthy legal battle. He was fined, but the seaside sculpture — a jumble of wood nailed together in chaotic fashion — draws tens of thousands of visitors a year.

Vilks’ life changed radically 13 years ago after he drew a sketch of Muhammad with a dog’s body. Dogs are considered unclean by conservative Moslems, and Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

Al-Qaeda put a bounty on Vilks’ head. In 2010, two men tried to burn down his house in southern Sweden. Last year, a woman from Pennsylvania pleaded guilty in a plot to try to kill him.

Link

Bangladesh

Four killed in Bangladesh over Facebook post

2019-10-21

[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] At least four people were killed and about 50 injured on Sunday in festivities with police in Bangladesh over a Facebook post that offended Moslems, officials said.

The festivities in the southern district of Bhola, 195 km (120 miles) from the capital Dhaka, broke out when angry crowds protested against a Facebook post in which a Hindu reportedly made derogatory remarks about Prophet Mohammad.

Police said the Facebook had actually been hacked and all the hackers were tossed into the calaboose.

"We fired blank shots in self-defense when some people started throwing stones at our officers forcing us to take shelter in a building," said Sarkar Mohammad Kaisar, Superintendent of Police in Bhola.

Four people were killed and a policeman suffered bullet wounds during the clash, he said. Border guards and additional police have been sent to Bhola.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Former Israeli agent Fakhoury admits Lebanese Communist Party’s role in SLA’s defeat

2019-09-19

[ALMASDARNEWS] The former Israeli agent and officer of the Israel-backed South Lebanese Army (SLA), Amer Elias Fakhoury,

...the Lebanese-American dual citizen appears in our archives just once, upon his arrest a few days ago, where he is named as both Amer Fakhoury and Amer al-Fakhoury...

allegedly admitted his forces’ defeat at the hands of the Islamic and leftist resistance during the years following the 1989 Taif Agrement, al-Diyar reported.

The former military commander of the notorious Khiyam Prison allegedly told the Lebanese authorities that he worked directly with Israel and acquired Israeli nationality after the SLA’s defeat in 2000.

During the interrogation by the Lebanese authorities, Fakhoury revealed the role of the Lebanese national resistance in fighting Israel during the 1980s and the military operations that targeted the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the South Leb Army at the time.

According to Fakhoury, the liquidation attempt of SLA commander Antoine Lahad, which was carried out by Souha Bechara of the Lebanese Communist Party, had a significant role in accelerating the withdrawal of the Israeli military from Leb.

"I was very shocked and realized that Israel would withdraw from Leb after the communist resistance operation," al-Diyar quoted Fakhoury.

"Antoine Lahad was no longer able to speak as before the liquidation attempt," Fakhoury reported.

Fakhoury allegedly pointed out that the liquidation attempt caused great shock in the Israeli circles, which tried to tame the situation through new resolutions and tried to find a strong military officer to take over the command of the SLA by wooing some Lebanese officers, but they ultimately failed.

The SLA officer said the liquidation attempt on Lahad revealed that the Lebanese Communist Party was deeply embedded in the SLA, leaving many in the group to mistrust their own members.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Trump administration transfers al Qaeda suspect to the U.S. to face terrorism charges

2017-07-22

[CBSNEWS] The Trump administration has transferred an al Qaeda suspect from Spain to the U.S. to face trial in federal court for terrorism charges, CBS News has confirmed.

Ali Charaf Damache

...the dual national Algerian Irishman who was such great friends with Pennsylvania native Colleen LaRose, aka Jihad Jane. He faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted...

was charged with helping to plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad in cartoons, according to The New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
, which first reported the transfer.

Damache was scheduled to appear in federal court Friday in Philadelphia, which the report says makes him the first foreigner brought to the U.S. to face terrorism charges under President Trump.

Mr. Trump and members of his administration, like Attorney General Jeff Sessions, have previously advocated using the prison at Guantanamo Bay to hold and prosecute terrorism suspects, the report notes.

Former President B.O. sought to close the detention facility, but was unsuccessful, with Congress blocking him from fulfilling that promise. Instead, he transferred 161 detainees from the prison. Mr. Trump made clear on the 2016 campaign trail that he opposed Mr. Obama's efforts and called on him before the inauguration to stop releasing detainees.

Link

Europe

Spain to Extradite Man Linked to 'Jihad Jane'

2016-02-27

[An Nahar] The Spanish government on Friday approved the extradition to the United States of an alleged jihadist wanted by Washington for conspiring with a woman known as "Jihad Jane" to recruit people online for attacks in Europe and south Asia.

Ali Charaf Damache, who holds both Algerian and Irish nationality, was detained in December in Barcelona.

U.S. officials say Damache worked with Colleen LaRose -- a Pennsylvania woman who converted to Islam and took the name Jihad Jane -- and others to create a "violent jihad organization" with men and women from Europe and the United States.

LaRose herself was jailed for 10 years in 2014 for plotting attacks, including the murder of Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has survived several death threats since penning a cartoon portraying the Prophet Mohammed as a dog.

U.S. authorities say Damache and others recruited men online "to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe" as well as women with passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of their plots.

Spain's cabinet approved his extradition during its regular cabinet meeting on Friday.

Damache had refused to be extradited to the United States, where he faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted.

He had initially been detained in Ireland where he was living, but a court there refused a U.S. request to extradite him and he walked free.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Teen involved in 'Jihad Jane' case sentenced to five years in prison

2014-04-18

[Beirut Daily Star] A Pak immigrant who is the youngest person ever to be convicted of U.S. terror charges was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday by a federal judge after pleading guilty to taking part in a plot to kill a Swedish artist.

The man, Mohammad Hasan Khalid, 20, who was taken into custody three years ago for his role in the "Jihad Jane" conspiracy, will serve an additional two years in prison as a result of his crimes, ruled Petrese Tucker, chief judge for U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.

Khalid begged the judge for mercy and thanked his parents for their support during a court appearance.

"Mom, Dad, you will forgive me 1,000 times even though I don't ask for it," said Khalid, who pleaded guilty to related crimes when he was as young as 15 and living with his parents' in suburban Maryland.

He was enjugged
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
in 2011 on charges including providing material support for forces of Evil for working with Colleen LaRose, a suburban Philadelphia housewife who went by the nickname Jihad Jane.

In January, LaRose was sentenced to 10 years in prison for planning to murder artist Lars Vilks, who had depicted the head of the Mohammedan Prophet Mohammad on a dog.

Link

Home Front: WoT

America's 'Jihad Jane' Jailed for 10 Years

2014-01-07

[An Nahar] An American woman nicknamed "Jihad Jane" was jugged
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
for 10 years on Monday after plotting to carry out deadly attacks in Europe and South Asia including the murder of a Swedish cartoonist, U.S. justice officials said.

Pennsylvania woman Colleen LaRose, 50, a convert to Islam, had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements and attempted identity theft.

"This case clearly underscores the evolving nature of the terrorist threat we now face in this country," said Zane David Memeger, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

"The Internet has made it easier for those who want to attack the American way of life to identify like-minded individuals to carry out their terroristic plans."

An accomplice of LaRose, Jamie Ramirez, who has also pleaded guilty, is to be sentenced on Wednesday.

According to court documents, LaRose and her conspirators had recruited men on the Internet to carry out a "violent jihad" in South Asia and Europe.

She also sought to recruit women on the Internet who had passports and the ability to travel freely around Europe.

LaRose also received a direct order to kill Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who had outraged many Moslems by drawing the Prophet Mohammed's head on a dog's body.

LaRose agreed to carry out the murder, believing that her American citizenship and appearance would help her blend in as she attempted the killing.

She later traveled to Europe and tracked Vilks online in an effort to complete the crime but was unsuccessful.

In addition to 10 years in prison, federal judge Petrese Tucker also fined LaRose $2,500, and placed her on five years parole after her release from prison.

She could be released in a little more four years, taking into account good behavior and the years she's already served.

The relatively light sentence may have been due to her cooperation with Sherlocks.

She was taken into custody in October 2009, but her arrest was not made public until March 2010 after the Irish police jugged
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
Moslem suspects accused of plotting to assassinate Vilks.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Colleen LaRose aka 'Jihad Jane' may face decades in jail

2014-01-03

The Pennsylvania woman who called herself Jihad Jane and a teenage accomplice from Maryland provided "very significant" assistance to U.S. authorities in several terrorism investigations but still remain threats to the public, prosecutors say in new court filings.

Prosecutors said Colleen LaRose, 50, should be sentenced to "decades behind bars" for her role in a failed 2009 plot to kill Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist who offended many Muslims by drawing the Prophet Mohammed on the head of a dog.

After years of delay,

...due to her cooperation with the prosecutors...

the American-born LaRose is expected to be sentenced on Monday in Philadelphia. A similar hearing for Mohammad Hassan Khalid, the youngest person ever charged with terrorism in the United States, is set for Tuesday.

U.S. guidelines call for LaRose to receive a life sentence and for Khalid, who is now 20, to receive 15 years. Given their cooperation, prosecutors asked the judge to sentence LaRose to "decades behind bars" and Khalid to "less than 10 years."

In a presentence filing this week, U.S. authorities reiterated what they declared when LaRose's arrest was made public in 2010 - that her gender, blond hair, Texas twang and green eyes make her case significant because she does not fit the stereotype of an Islamic terrorist.

"News of LaRose's arrest spread shockwaves throughout the West, as people recognized that the face of the terrorism threat had changed forever," prosecutors Jennifer Arbittier Williams and Matthew Blue wrote. "The world is watching, and this sentencing presents an important opportunity to send a strong message to other lonely, vulnerable people who might be enticed by online extremists promising fame and honor."

A 2012 Reuters investigative report described LaRose's troubled life before she converted to Islam: childhood rapes by her biological father, teenage prostitution, heavy drug abuse and failed marriages. LaRose said that her father's sexual assaults, confirmed by confidential court records, began in second grade.

"I survived a lot of things that should have rightfully have killed me," LaRose said in an exclusive interview from jail in 2012.

Sounds like the prosecution wants to finish the job...

LaRose's story has helped prosecutors and FBI agents better understand the roots of homegrown extremism, U.S. officials said.

LaRose was living with a oft-travelling boyfriend in 2007 when a romantic encounter with a Muslim man sparked an interest in Islam. After months of learning online, LaRose said, she converted to Islam and later watched videos of alleged U.S. and Israeli atrocities against Palestinian children that radicalized her.

By 2008, prosecutors said, "she had managed to align herself with violent terrorists who valued her ability and persistence as their online predator, or 'hunter,'" recruiting new fighters.

"I just loved my brothers so much, when they would tell me stuff, I would listen to them, no matter what," LaRose told Reuters. "And I also was ... lost."

In 2009, LaRose followed instructions from an al Qaeda operative in Pakistan and flew to Europe for the plot to kill the Swedish artist. But after six weeks, largely in Ireland, LaRose became frustrated with the mission's pace and returned to Philadelphia, where she was arrested.

Ali Damache, her alleged handler in Ireland, remains jailed there, fighting extradition to the United States on terrorism charges. Jamie Paulin Ramirez, who flew from Colorado to marry Damache in Ireland, pleaded guilty to related terrorism charges. She may be sentenced on Wednesday.

Prosecutors said Khalid, who grew up in Pakistan, lived a double-life after moving to Maryland - as "a polite and studious 15-year-old" and "a tireless soldier for violent jihad." He helped al Qaeda by translating videos from Urdu to English, inciting others, and aided LaRose as she smuggled a stolen U.S. passport to a terrorist, they said.

After pleading guilty, LaRose and Khalid each met more than 20 times with U.S. authorities, providing information about multiple targets. In particular, authorities cited Khalid's insight into al Qaeda's propaganda and recruitment efforts.

I'm a little torn by this. By rights she ought to send natural life in prison. But she did cooperate (apparently significantly) and we'd like American-born schoopid terrorists to repent (and spill the beans). So give her 15 to 20 and see if she'll continue to cooperate while in prison.

Link

Europe

Ireland: Suspect in Terrorism Case Faces Extradition to U.S.

2013-03-01

The United States government has petitioned the Irish High Court to extradite an Algerian man living in Ireland on terrorism charges relating to a plot to assassinate a Swedish artist, officials said Thursday. The United States alleges that the man, Ali Charaf Damache,

From the clan Damache...

planned to set up terrorist training camps and kill several Europeans, including a Swedish artist, Lars Vilks, whose sketch of the Prophet Muhammad's head on a dog, published in 2007, had enraged the Islamic world.

On Wednesday, Mr. Damache pleaded guilty in the Waterford Circuit Court to making a menacing phone call to an American peace activist, a charge for which he was arrested and detained in 2010. The judge sentenced him to time served and released him, but Mr. Damache was immediately rearrested on the American extradition warrant. Mr. Damache arrived in Ireland in 2000 and married an Irish woman in 2002. The relationship ended in 2008 and he then married an American citizen, Jamie Paulin Ramirez. Ms. Ramirez has pleaded guilty in the United States to charges of conspiring with Colleen LaRose, also known as Jihad Jane, to support and train terrorists.

Link

Europe

Algerian In 'Jihad Jane' Case Pleads Guilty To Irish Charge

2013-02-28

[Ynet] An Algerian at the center of the so-called Jihad Jane conspiracy unexpectedly pleaded guilty during an Irish proceeding on Wednesday that may hasten his extradition to the United States on terrorism charges, a court official said.

Ali Damache, who has lived in Ireland for a decade, pleaded guilty in court to a single count of sending a menacing message by telephone to an American Moslem activist, according to a court official in Waterford, Ireland.

Link

Terror Networks

Reuters downplays seriousness of Jihad Jane case

2012-12-11

Colleen LaRose was passing time on the Internet, when the call to martyrdom arrived from halfway around the world. The American known as Jihad Jane read the words "Kill him" on her computer screen. The order came from an al-Qaeda operative on March 22, 2009. LaRose thought this was it, her chance to become somebody.

LaRose was a recent convert to Islam. She found a place for herself quickly, raising money and awareness online for the plight of her fellow Muslims. They were underdogs, just like her.

During her darkest days, LaRose had experienced incest, rape and prostitution. She had subjected herself to drinking and drugs, from crack to crystal meth. Now, if she accepted the order to kill, she would surrender her life to a higher power: Allah.

The man who issued the command called himself Eagle Eye. LaRose knew him only online, and that he claimed to be hiding in Pakistan. Eagle Eye wanted her to fly to Europe to train as an assassin with other al-Qaeda operatives, then to Sweden to do what few other Muslim jihadis could: blend in.

They believed that her blonde hair and U.S. passport would help her to get close to the target: Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist who had blasphemed the Prophet Mohammad by sketching his face on the head of a dog. Eagle Eye told LaRose, "Go to Swede and kill him."

The case was so serious, officials said, that they charged LaRose with crimes that could keep her imprisoned for the rest of her life. But an exclusive Reuters review of confidential investigative documents and interviews -- including the first with Jihad Jane herself -- reveals a less menacing and a more preposterous undertaking than the U.S. government asserted.

Today LaRose says of the plan to kill Vilks, "I got so close to being able to do this." In truth, what happened proved more farcical than frightful, more absurd than ominous.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Honor student pleads guilty in Jihad Jane plot

2012-05-07

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Maryland honor student pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to help a Pennsylvania woman known as "Jihad Jane" plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had offended some Muslims. Mohammed Hassan Khalid, 18, is believed to be the youngest person ever charged with terrorism in a U.S. civilian court. He faces a sentence as high as 15 years in prison.

Khalid, who moved with his family from Pakistan to suburban Baltimore in 2008, was a high school student who had been accepted on a full scholarship at prestigious Johns Hopkins University.

And he wasn't even 1/32 Cherokee...

According to filings by U.S. prosecutors, Khalid began communicating online with fellow jihadists in the United States, Ireland and South Asia as early as age 15. One of them was Colleen R. LaRose, the suburban Philadelphia woman who called herself "Jihad Jane." LaRose pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to kill Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks. The artist had offended some Muslims by drawing a cartoon with the head of the prophet Mohammed on a dog's body.

Colleen not quite getting the American idea that we have the right to be offensive, and the corresponding right to suffer offense from others...

U.S. officials have said the "Jihad Jane" case is unusual because it involves a green-eyed, blonde American woman who boasted that her appearance and U.S. passport allowed her to conduct terror activities without drawing suspicion.

Unless the blonde starts boasting on-line...

"Today's plea, which involved a radicalized teen in Maryland who connected with like-minded individuals around the globe via the Internet, underscores the evolving nature of violent extremism today," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Lisa Monaco.

During a short hearing at the federal courthouse in Philadelphia, officials said, Khalid pleaded guilty to a single charge of providing material support to terrorists.

Khalid's lawyer, Jeffrey Lindy of Philadelphia, said in an interview afterward: "This is saddest case I've ever been involved with in my career. He's a smart kid who understands what's happening. But how much can an 18-year-old brain comprehend about a life-altering experience like this?"

Enough to know he shouldn't have done it...

Khalid helped LaRose raise money and recruit other conspirators online "to wage violent jihad in and around Europe," U.S. officials said. In addition, Khalid helped LaRose hide a stolen U.S. passport and, officials said, hoped "he could personally provide it to the mujahideen."

Khalid also communicated with one of the plot's alleged leaders, Ali Charaf Damache, an Algerian living in Ireland. Damache, who used the alias "Black Flag," is charged with conspiracy to provide material support for terrorists. He was arrested in 2010 in Ireland on an unrelated charge and the United States is seeking to extradite him on the American terror charges.

We won't execute him. Promise that to the Irish. We'll just jug him forever in a SuperMax.

LaRose was arrested in October 2009, shortly after returning from a visit to meet Damache in Ireland.

The FBI arrested Khalid in July, when he was still a juvenile, but the case was not unsealed until September, when he turned 18. Under the plea agreement, he faces adult charges.

In a statement, Zane Memeger, the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia, highlighted Khalid's youth.

"This case has demonstrated that age is not a limiter to threats to our nation's security," Memeger said. "Regardless of a defendant's age or background, we are committed to keeping our communities and our country safe through the investigation and prosecution of violent extremist activity."

Khalid was a legal U.S. resident, but, unlike his siblings and parents, he did not become a naturalized American citizen. As a result, Lindy said, Khalid is likely to be deported back to Pakistan after he finishes serving his U.S. sentence.

There's insult to injury...

Another blonde American woman, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez of Leadville, Colorado, was also involved in the case. She traveled to Ireland and married Damache. Paulin-Ramirez and LaRose arrived in Ireland at about the same time - early September 2009 - and met for the first time there. Paulin-Ramirez returned to the United States and pleaded guilty to a lesser terror charge.

U.S. District Judge Petrese B. Tucker in Philadelphia has not set a sentencing date for any of the defendants.

Link

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