UK police collar "violent jihad" website operator

UK police have arrested a British citizen on charges he operated Islamic fundamentalist websites that preached "violent jihad".

The arrest of Syed Talha Ahsan on Wednesday came at the request of the US government, which released a 14-page indictment accusing him of selling books, videotapes, audio cassettes and CD-ROMs that glorified "violent jihad in Chechnya, Bosnia, Afghanistan" and of funnelling money to groups that are deemed illegal by the federal government.

The websites including azzam.com, azzam.co.uk, qoqaz.net, and qoqaz.co.uk, tout the virtues of jihad, primarily against the West and allied nations. One web page posted soon after 11 September, 2001 saved by Archive.org includes an "urgent appeal to defend Afghanistan" and features defiant quotes from the Taliban threatening any nation that aids the US in its military operations.

Another web page describes Abu Ubaidah, who it says died on a jihad in 2000 while fighting the Russians in southern Chechnya.

The indictment claims that Ahsan, a 26-year-old London resident, distributed CDs and videotapes that were illegally "eulogising dead fighters, for the purpose of recruiting individuals and soliciting donations to support the mujahideen" and that he "possessed various materials, including literature supporting violent jihad throughout the world".

The name "Azzam" - which appears in the websites' domain names - apparently refers to Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, who died in 1989 and is widely considered to have laid the foundation for the militant Islamic fundamentalist movement with which Osama bin Laden is commonly associated. Some of the websites were allegedly located in Ireland, Malaysia and the US.

The federal government has requested Ahsan, who is currently being detained without bail in the UK, be returned to the US for trial. If extradited and convicted, he could face life in prison on charges of participating in a conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists; aiding others in providing material support to terrorists; and criminal conspiracy.

Among other allegations, the indictment says Ahsan corresponded via email with a US Navy enlistee and obtained then-classified plans of a naval battle group operating in the Straits of Hormuz, between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, which also discussed "the Naval Group's vulnerabilities to terrorist attack".

The federal government has tried to portray Ahsan as one of several members of a broader conspiracy to aid terrorists. Another alleged member of the group, Babar Ahmad, faced similar charges from the US Attorney for the District of Connecticut in October 2004.

Declan McCullagh writes for CNET News.com