Swiss Seize Five Suspected Extremists
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0305/211304.html BERN, Switzerland (AP) - Police have detained five Islamic extremists suspected of running Web sites that showed hostages being killed and gave details of how to make bombs and carry out attacks, authorities said Friday. The five, three of whom were still in custody, were detained Feb. 22 in anti-terrorism raids in the capital, Bern, and nearby Fribourg, the Federal Prosecutor's Office said. Police used force during the operation in Fribourg, the office said without elaborating. The prosecutor's office did not say where the killings took place, but Swiss media reports have said the high-profile beheading of an American in Saudi Arabia (website - news) was included. American Paul M. Johnson Jr., was kidnapped and killed in Saudi Arabia in June. All the suspects were "of the Islamic faith, with extremist leanings," the prosecutor's office said. It did not identify any of them, and officials were not immediately available for comment. Prosecutors also investigated Internet discussion forums tied to the sites. "The forum of one of the sites was often used by the Islamist movement as a communication and propaganda tool," the prosecutor's office said. The office referred to the now-closed Web site www.islamic-minbar.com, saying its forum published letters claiming responsibility for a suicide bomb attack in Pakistan in July. The forum also contained threats against European governments and information relating to two French reporters, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, who were held by Islamic militants in Iraq for four months before being released in December. The prosecutor's office did not elaborate. The site, launched June 21, was closed by its Swiss Internet service provider in September because of its content. Another site was then opened outside Switzerland, the prosecutor's office said, but did not identify the site. Swiss authorities have sought international judicial assistance to have the new site shut down, the office said, without identifying the country involved. Swiss media previously have identified the founder of www.islamic-minbar.com as Moez Garsallaoui, a Tunisian who was based in Lausanne. A woman who answered the telephone at Garsallaoui's listed number in the Swiss city said he did not live there. In September, Garsallaoui was quoted as telling the Swiss weekly SonntagsZeitung that his site was dedicated to "political discussion." "If terrorists want to use this site to publish things, I can't do anything about it," he was quoted as saying. "I don't have any control over that." The Swiss media report said the posting included a threat to kill Italian aid workers Simona Pari and Simona Torretta who were abducted in Baghdad on Sept. 7 and freed Sept. 28. Among other postings were: a sermon by an Iraqi Islamic cleric urging Muslims to behead Jews and fight a holy war against unbelievers; pictures of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden (news - bio) fighting in Afghanistan; and graphic images of a man being beaten to death during Christian-Muslim violence in Indonesia. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
