7 arrested in Ireland over Swedish cartoonist plot - 5 released

[Al-khiyal]

JihadJane, an American woman, faces terrorism charges

"...Colleen Renee LaRose, 46, has been quietly held in U.S. custody since October..."

March 12, 2010 -- A petite, blond-haired, blue-eyed high school dropout who allegedly used the nickname JihadJane was identified Tuesday as an alleged terrorist intent on recruiting others to her cause, as federal prosecutors unsealed criminal charges that could send her to prison for life. Colleen Renee LaRose, 46, has been quietly held in U.S. custody since October on suspicions that she provided material support to terrorists and traveled to Sweden to launch a violent attack, according to federal officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case is continuing to unfold.

LaRose, who lived in suburban Philadelphia, allegedly recruited men and women in the United States, Europe, and South Asia to "wage violent jihad," according to an indictment issued in Pennsylvania. She fueled her interests on the Internet over the past few years, and used Web sites and YouTube to post increasingly agitated messages, the court papers said. As an American citizen whose appearance and passport allowed her to blend into Western society, LaRose represents one of the worst fears of intelligence and FBI analysts focused on identifying terrorist threats. She is one of only a handful of women to be charged with terrorism offenses in the United States, national security experts said.

Across the ocean Tuesday, Irish police conducted morning raids in Cork and Waterford, arresting four men and three women who had been under electronic surveillance by U.S. and Swedish authorities. The seven were suspected of plotting with LaRose to attack a Swedish artist, Lars Vilks, whose 2007 drawing of the prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog enraged Muslims, according to Irish news accounts. Justice Department officials declined to comment on the arrests in Ireland or on whether Vilks was a target of LaRose's.

David Kris, assistant attorney general for the national security division, said the prospect that a suburban American woman had conspired to support terrorists and traveled overseas to advance a plot "underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face." Mark Wilson, a lawyer for LaRose at the Federal Community Defender Office in Philadelphia, declined to comment. LaRose has not yet been scheduled for an arraignment on the charges, according to a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy.

JihadJane, Fatima LaRose

The path that LaRose, who is 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighs barely more than 100 pounds, may have taken to jihad remains murky. She has been married at least twice and, over several years since the mid-1980s, had been arrested by police in South Texas for writing bad checks and driving while intoxicated, according to court records obtained by The Washington Post. Investigators suggest that she turned to the Internet a few years ago, using the names JihadJane and Fatima LaRose. In a December 2007 Internet posting located by The Post, "Fatima LaRose," who said she lived in Pennsylvania, asked for advice about how to bring an Egyptian boyfriend with whom she had been corresponding for more than a year to the United States for Christmas.

Months later, the indictment said, "JihadJane" described herself in a June 2008 YouTube posting as "desperate to do something somehow to help" suffering Muslims. LaRose allegedly went on to recruit others, asking whether the prospects were European citizens who could travel freely. She looked for recruits whose physical appearance would "blend in with many people" and go undetected in Europe and the United States. She allegedly agreed to marry one co-conspirator in an effort to ease his path to Europe, according to e-mails cited in the indictment. By March 2009, LaRose had reached out to the Swedish Embassy for information about how to acquire permanent residency in Sweden. The man identified as her potential fiance sent her instructions to "go to sweden . . . find location of" the target and "kill him . . . this is what i say to u." LaRose allegedly responded, "i agree that it is good i blend in."

An FBI interview

FBI agents interviewed LaRose in July 2009 in Pennsylvania, where she told them that she had not solicited money for terrorism or posted on a terrorist Web site, according to the indictment, nor used the handle "JihadJane." In August, LaRose removed and hid the hard drive from her home computer, authorities said. The same day, she traveled to Sweden "with the intent to live and train with jihadists, and to find and kill" her target, the indictment said. LaRose took with her the U.S. passport of a man identified only as "K.G.," with whom she lived, to give it to "the brothers," the indictment said. In September, she performed online searches to find her target, joined an electronic community that he hosted and journeyed to his artists' enclave in Sweden, the indictment said. By September 30, LaRose e-mailed the man identified as her fiance, saying it would be "an honour & great pleasure to die or kill for" him and asserting that "only death will stop me here that i am so close to the target!" LaRose ultimately returned to the United States, where she was charged in October in a criminal complaint with helping transfer a U.S. passport belonging to K.G. She appeared in court in Pennsylvania on October 16, where she was appointed a public defender, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney and a representative in the public defender's office.

Authorities declined to address Tuesday why the grand jury indictment of LaRose remained under seal for so long and whether she may have helped law enforcement during her months-long incarceration. But the Justice Department has used such a strategy in several cases to glean more intelligence information on suspects and plots before making their investigations public, veterans of the department said. Spokesman Dean Boyd said "there were investigative activities we had to protect, and had the case been made public . . . those activities could have been jeopardized." J. Patrick Rowan, former chief of the Justice Department's national security division, said the LaRose indictment is "another indication of how the threats come from all directions." "If nothing else, it's another reminder to the FBI of the obligation to run down every lead and every threat, because they can't be too far-fetched," Rowan said.

[Al-khiyal]

'Jihad Jane' linked to Irish plot

March 10, 2010 -- Gardaí believe a Pennsylvania woman arrested in the U.S. travelled to Ireland last year to recruit people for a plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist. Colleen LaRose, who also went by the pseudonym of 'Fatima LaRose' and 'Jihad Jane', has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder overseas, conspiracy to provide support to terrorists, making false statements and attempted identity theft. Yesterday, gardaí arrested seven people in connection with an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist, Lars Vilks, over a 2007 drawing depicting the Prophet Muhammed with the body of a dog. Mr Vilks was put under police protection in 2007 after his drawings prompted al-Qaeda to put a $100,000 bounty on his head. The sketches, originally produced for exhibition, were later published by Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda, to accompany an editorial criticising galleries in Sweden for refusing to show them.

The suspects, four men and three women, are being held at Garda stations in counties Waterford and Kilkenny. They were arrested during a major search operation at 10 addresses in Waterford and Cork yesterday morning. Those arrested are from Algeria, Croatia, Palestine, Libya and the U.S. They are aged in their mid-20s to late-40s. Detectives in Ireland have been working on the case since late last year with their counterparts in the U.S. and Europe, including Sweden. The Irish Times understands the suspects were taken into custody on the basis of information supplied to the Garda by the FBI that came to light after surveillance of the suspects’ communications, including e-mails. The U.S. investigators believe the alleged leader of the group is one of the Algerian men. He has been living in Ireland for the past decade.

The U.S. Justice Department said Ms LaRose posted a comment on YouTube in June 2008 that she wanted to help "the suffering Muslim people". She sent emails to unnamed co-conspirators offering to become a martyr as well as to use her American background to avoid detection, according to the indictment filed in a federal court in Pennsylvania. The indictment accused Ms LaRose of agreeing in March 2009 to marry a co-conspirator from a South Asian country and try to obtain residency in Europe. He urged her to go to Sweden, find the unnamed Swedish man "and kill him". The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on whether the arrests of Ms LaRose and the seven people in Ireland were connected. However, The Irish Times understands gardai believe Ms LaRose travelled to Ireland last year to recruit people to join the plot to kill Mr Vilk.

In the Pennsylvania case, Ms LaRose was accused of traveling to Europe in August 2009 and tracking online her intended murder target in Sweden, according to the indictment. It also said she tried to raise money over the internet, lure others to her cause and lied to FBI investigators. After returning to the United States, Ms LaRose was arrested in October 2009 on a charge related to the theft of a US passport, court documents showed. If convicted on the four counts in the indictment, which was dated March 4th, 2010, Ms LaRose could face a sentence of life in prison and a $1 million fine.

[Al-khiyal]

Seven held over 'plot' to murder cartoonist

March 10, 2010 -- Eight computers seized in garda raids yesterday are to be scrutinised today in a bid to find vital clues to an alleged plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist who is under threat from al-Qa'ida. Last night detectives were questioning seven Muslims as part of an international investigation into a conspiracy to murder the cartoonist Lars Vilks, whose drawing depicting the prophet Mohammad with the body of a dog created uproar two-and-a-half years ago. The seven - four men and three women - were detained in dawn raids on seven houses, an office and a bakery by gardai from the south-eastern region and the Special Branch. Five of them were arrested in Waterford city and Tramore and the other two were detained in Ballincollig in Co Cork. The raids were the culmination of an intelligence-led operation which began last October and involved close co-operation with the FBI, the CIA, British security agencies and the Swedish security police, Sapo.

The international operation was set up after intelligence indicated that a group were planning to either shoot or blow up Mr Vilks, who has been the target of a spate of death threats since his cartoon was published in a Swedish newspaper. Last night, Mr Vilks (63) told the Irish Independent that he had not received any information about the arrests from the Swedish police. "A month ago Sapo told me there was an increased level of threat against me," he said. He pointed out that he was not scared when he heard about the plot. "I don't get upset about these things. And I regret nothing," he added. "I have prepared in different ways and I have an axe here in case someone should manage to get in through the window." In January Mr Vilks received a telephone threat from a man, who spoke with a Swedish accent, from a Somalian number and that resulted in increased security at his home. "I have installed a defence system in my home and the police are patrolling here from time to time," he said. "And I am always trying to identify strange sounds as I live in a pretty isolated place."

All seven suspects are living here legally and most of them either have asylum status or are waiting for their applications to be processed. Three of them are Algerians and the others include an American woman, a Palestinian, a Libyan and a Croatian. Some of them are understood to have converted to the Muslim faith. The main suspect is a 49-year-old Algerian, who is unemployed. He has been living here for the past 10 years and has an Irish passport. He lived in Cork for several years and then moved to Waterford. He is living with the American woman. The other two Algerians were detained in the 7am Cork raids. The seven were being questioned last night at garda stations in Waterford, Tramore, Dungarvan and Thomastown, under section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows gardai to hold them without charge for seven days.

Senior anti-terrorist officers said last night there was no evidence linking the suspects to the al-Qa'ida network, which had previously offered a reward of $100,000 (€74,000) for the murder of Mr Vilks. The raids followed an exchange of information between the various police forces and agencies and monitoring of telephone and email traffic. Sixty officers were involved in the overall searches and raids. As well as the computers, gardai also seized a number of mobile phones and a small quantity of documentation. The computers will be examined closely today by specialists in an effort to unearth further information about the terror plot. Members of the national surveillance unit were also involved in the lead-up to yesterday's raids, which were co-ordinated by the garda crime and security branch at the Phoenix Park. Regular surveillance on suspected international terrorists is carried out by gardai from the force's Middle Eastern desk and military intelligence.

[Al-khiyal]

[Al-khiyal]

Swedish artist: cartoon murder plot 'low-tech'

STOCKHOLM, March 10, 2010 — A Swedish artist who angered Muslims by drawing the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog said Wednesday he has no regrets and believes the suspects in an alleged plot to kill him were not professionals. Lars Vilks, who has faced numerous death threats over the controversial cartoon, said he has built his own defense system, including a "home made" safe room and a barbed-wire sculpture that could electrocute potential intruders. He said he also has an ax "to chop down" anyone trying to climb through the windows of his home in southern Sweden.

"If something happens, I know exactly what to do," Vilks told The Associated Press in an interview in Stockholm. The 63-year-old artist said the suspects in an alleged plot to kill him — seven people arrested in Ireland and a Philadelphia woman held in the U.S. — were "not the real hard professionals. I think they are rather low-tech." He said he had learned from American media reports that the woman held in the U.S., Colleen R. LaRose, who had called herself JihadJane in a YouTube video, had visited the area where he lives, but he didn't know whether that was correct. "I'm glad she didn't kill me," Vilks said.

An eccentric artist with disheveled hair and thick-lensed glasses, Vilks referred to himself as "the artist" and described his life after his Muhammad drawing was first published by a Swedish newspaper in 2007 as if it were a movie plot. "It's a good story. It's about the bad guys and a good guy, and they try to kill him," he said. "They have this woman also which I think is a good part of the plot with this fantastic name, 'JihadJane,' who is actually doing some scouting there in the surroundings," Vilks added. "As I can see it, you have something of a film there. But as I said, I believe they're a bit low-tech."

LaRose had discussions of her alleged plans with at least one of the suspects apprehended in Ireland, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to discuss details of the investigation. Irish authorities said Wednesday those arrested there were two Algerians, two Libyans, a Palestinian, a Croatian and an American woman married to one of the Algerian suspects. They were not identified by name.

[Al-khiyal]

لعلاقتهم بمؤامرة لقتل الرسام السويدي
توقيف مسلمين بأيرلندا بقضية الرسوم

أوقفت الشرطة الأيرلندية سبعة مسلمين قالت إنهم على علاقة بـ"مؤامرة" لقتل السويدي لارس فيلكس الذي رسم في 2007 رسمًا كاريكاتيريا مسيئا للنبي محمد عليه الصلاة والسلام، وهي قضية وُصلت بها أيضا أميركية مسلمة كانت حسب الادعاء تتخفى إلكترونيا تحت كنية "جهاد جين".

وتحدثت الشرطة عن أربعة رجال وثلاث نساء في العشرينيات والأربعينيات من العمر أوقفوا الثلاثاء في بلدتي كورك وووترفورد جنوبي أيرلندا في عملية نسقت مع الأجهزة الأمنية الأميركية والأوروبية.

ولم تحدد الشرطة جنسيات الموقوفين لكن شبكة آر تي أي الحكومية قالت إنهم مغاربة ويمنيون يقيمون بصورة قانونية في أيرلندا حيث حصلوا على وضع لاجئ.

ويمكن حسب القانون الأيرلندي إبقاء الموقوفين رهن الاحتجاز أسبوعا دون تهم على ذمة استجوابهم.

ونشر فيلكس في 2007 في صحيفة سويدية رسما مسيئا للنبي عليه الصلاة والسلام ، جنبا إلى جنب مع مقال افتتاحي يدافع عما وُصف بحرية التعبير.

وقالت الشرطة السويدية إنها علمت بالتوقيفات قبل وقوعها، لكنها رفضت التعليق على أي تهديدات تلقاها فيلكس.

وفي السويد قال فيلكس إنه لم يتأثر بالتوقيفات أو بالتهديدات التي توجه إليه وقال "لقد هيأت نفسي بطرق مختلفة ولدي فأس في حالة استطاع أحدهم التسلل إلى بيتي عبر النافذة".

كما قال إنه تلقى مطلع العام تهديدات عبر الهاتف من الصومال وقد حذرته الشرطة السويدية منذ ذلك التاريخ بأن الخطر على حياته بات مرتفعا، "لكنني لم أحمل الأمر على محمل الجد".

"جهاد جين"

وفي بنسلفانيا الأميركية قال المدعون إن امرأة من ضواحي فيلادلفيا اسمها كولين لاروز (46 عاما)، أوقفت في أكتوبر/تشرين الأول الماضي وأحيط توقيفها بالكتمان، اتصلت بـ"متشددين" خارج أميركا عن طريق الإنترنت ونشرت مواد إلكترونية تفيد رغبتها في التحول إلى "شهيدة"، وكانت تستعمل إلكترونيا اسم "جهاد جين" واستطاعت تجنيد أناس لقضيتها.

ولم يحدد الادعاء الهدف الذي أرادت لاروز "الاستشهاد" من أجله لكن نيويورك تايمز نقلت عن مصدر قضائي أميركي لم يكشف هويته قوله إن لقضيتها علاقة بالمسلمين السبعة الذين أوقفوا في أيرلندا، وتحدث عن امرأة بيضاء ذات شعر أشقر وعينين خضراوين.

وأشارت لائحة التهم إلى رسائل بريدية تحدث فيها شخص اتصلت به لاروز عن أن هيئتها وجوازها الأميركي يساعدانها في التحرك دون أن يُنتبه إليها، ووجه إليها تعليمات قبل عام بالانتقال إلى السويد للمساعدة في تنفيذ القتل، وهو ما وافقت عليه، وانتقلت فعلا إلى أوروبا في أغسطس/آب الماضي لكن لا يبدو أنها حاولت تنفيذ الجريمة.

وقال الادعاء إن لاروز عندما استجوبها مكتب التحقيقات الفدرالية في يوليو/تموز الماضي نفت "كذبا" طلب المال لتنفيذ أعمال إرهابية أو استعمال اسم "جهاد جين" أو نشرها رسائل على مواقع إرهابية، وهي الآن تواجه أيضا تهم الإدلاء بإفادات كاذبة.

ورصدت مجموعة محسوبة على القاعدة 100 ألف دولار مكافأة لمن يقتل فيلكس الذي أثار رسمه احتجاجات شبيهة بتلك التي أثارتها في 2005 رسوم دانماركية بريشة كورت فيسترغارد تسيء أيضا إلى النبي محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم.

وقالت الشرطة الدانماركية في فبراير/شباط 2008 إنها أحبطت محاولة لقتل فيسترغارد، ووجهت تهما في القضية نفسها إلى صومالي أدين بتهم الإرهاب ومحاولة القتل بعد تسلله إلى بيت الرسام ومعه فأس.

وأثارت رسوم فيسترغارد موجة غضب في آسيا وأفريقيا والشرق الأوسط قتل فيها 50 شخصا على الأقل.

[Al-khiyal]

«Jihad Jane», une Américaine inculpée pour terrorisme

Mercredi 10 Mars 2010 --Son histoire pourrait fournir le scénario d'un épisode croisé entre «Desperate housewives» et «24h chrono». Une Américaine de 46 ans est inculpée aux Etats-Unis pour avoir ourdi avec des terroristes islamistes un complot visant à tuer un homme en Suède, ont annoncé mardi les autorités américaines. Dans la vie, c'est une blonde aux yeux clairs, habitante de la banlieue de Philadelphie, qui répond au doux nom de Colleen LaRose. Sur Internet, c'était «Jihad Jane». Après sa conversion à l'Islam en 2008, elle veut «désespérément aider à quelque chose», affirme-t-elle dans une vidéo postée sur Youtube avec ce pseudo. Sa cause, elle la trouve dans la «Guerre sainte». Désormais, ses héros sont ses «frères du Jihad» et «OBL», probablement Oussama ben Laden.

Internet offre à la femme de Pennsylvanie le moyen d'entrer en contact avec d'autres illuminés qui partagent ses idées. Très active sur la Toile, grâce notamment à un profil MySpace, celle qui se fait aussi appeler «Fatima Rose» tisse des liens avec des djihadistes d'Europe et d'Asie du Sud. Elle est ainsi soupçonnée d'avoir en 2009 fourni un «soutien matériel» au terrorisme, dont «un soutien logistique, un soutien financier, des documents d'identité et du personnel», indique le ministère américain de la Justice. Elle aurait même projeté d'épouser un de ses contacts terroristes pour l'introduire facilement en Europe.

Mais le projet pour lequel elle est prête à donner sa vie en martyre, c'est un meurtre. «Tue-le, c'est le message que je t'adresse», lui a ordonné un de ses contacts. «Ce sera mon objectif jusqu'à ce que j'y parvienne ou que je meure en essayant», a-t-elle répondu. Si la police refuse de révéler l'identité de la «cible», tout porte à croire qu'il s'agit du caricaturiste suédois Lars Vilk, qui avait dessiné le prophète Mahomet avec un corps de chien en 2007. L'annonce de l'inculpation de Colleen LaRose, pourtant interpellée en octobre dernier, est en effet intervenue quelques heures après l'arrestation de sept personnes en Irlande, accusées d'avoir voulu assassiner le même Lars Vilks. Plusieurs médias américains, citant une source anonyme, indiquent que l'Américaine était en contact avec au moins l'un de ces hommes. Mais le département américain de la Justice refuse pour le moment de faire le lien entre les deux affaires.

Pour mener à bien son funeste projet, «Fatima Rose» comptait sur un atout : sa blondeur. Son physique, pensait-elle, lui permettrait de «passer inaperçue» en Europe et d'y déjouer les mesures de sécurité. «Cette affaire, a commenté le procureur Michael Levy, fait voler en éclats tout reste de croyance selon lesquels nous pourrions arrêter un terroriste en fonction de son apparence». Désormais inculpée, Colleen LaRose risque la prison à vie.