7 arrested in Ireland over Swedish cartoonist plot - 5 released

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"...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..."

Boyfriend: Terror suspect never practiced religion

QUAKERTOWN, Philadelphia, March 10, 2010 — A boyfriend of the American woman charged in a foreign terrorism plot says she never showed any Muslim or other religious leanings. Kurt Gorman of suburban Philadelphia says Colleen LaRose mostly spent her days at their Pennsburg apartment. Federal officials charge that she met up with violent jihadists online under the name "JihadJane." An indictment issued Tuesday says she used the Internet to conspire with them to kill a Swedish artist. Authorities say she also stole Gorman's U.S. passport to give it to a male co-conspirator. Gorman says he spent five years with LaRose and saw no violent tendencies. He says he came home one day last summer and found her gone. Gorman says he's still shocked by her arrest.

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Islamic leader 'not surprised' by alleged plot

March 10, 2010 -- One of Ireland's Islamic leaders has said he is not surprised that there could be Islamic fundamentalist groups operating in the country. Ali Abdullah al-Saleh, Imam to the Shia community in Ireland, has said that some Islamic educators are brainwashing young people.

Seven people were arrested yesterday in Waterford and Cork in connection with a conspiracy to murder an individual in another jurisdiction. Gardaí are continuing to question the four men and three women over an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist whose portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad angered many Muslims. Cartoonist Lars Vilks has been threatened over a drawing that depicted Muhammad with the body of a dog.

Gardaí spent today going through files on the eight computers seized as part of their operations yesterday. If gardaí want to extend their period of detention beyond 48 hours, they will have to bring the seven before the courts at some stage tomorrow. The operation is part of an international investigation involving police and state security services from the U.S. and Europe.

Three of those arrested are from Algeria, one of whom has been living with an American woman, who was also arrested yesterday. She had been previously married in Cork. A Palestinian, a Libyan and a Croatian are among those who were arrested. All seven have been living in Ireland legally. The Croatian man, who is in his 20s, had been living in Waterford city and attended religious services at a mosque in the city. Those involved in the Muslim community in the city have said the arrests should in no way tar the community locally and that the relationship between Muslims and other groups in the city remains excellent.

The head of an al-Qaeda faction in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, posted an audio tape on the internet in September 2007 offering $100,000 for the killing of Mr Vilks. However, senior gardaí have said there is no evidence to date of any link between the suspects and the al-Qaeda faction.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., a Pennsylvanian woman has been charged with plotting to kill an unnamed Swedish man and trying to recruit fighters via the internet to commit violent attacks overseas. The U.S. Justice Department said Colleen LaRose, who also went by the pseudonym of 'Fatima LaRose' and 'JihadJane' was charged with conspiracy to commit murder overseas, conspiracy to provide support to terrorists, making false statements and attempted identity theft.

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"I turned in Colleen 'Jihad Jane' LaRose to the FBI"

March 10, 2010 -- Here is The Jawa Report's exclusive report from the person who notified the FBI about Colleen "Jihad Jane" La Rose's online activities in support of terrorism. There have been so many media inquiries made to The Jawa Report and YouTube Smackdown about our involvement in the "Jihad Jane" case. We here at The Jawa Report and the YouTube Smackdown Corps were involved to varying degrees in tracking and "smacking down" her various YouTube videos and accounts. By "smacking down" we mean we helped with an organized campaign to "flag" terrorist propaganda videos uploaded to YouTube in an effort to have those videos removed. Howie and Stable Hand at The Jawa Report, for instance, were much more active in following Colleen - who in addition to calling herself "Jihad Jane" also used the name "Fatima LaRose".

Andrea, Sabby, The Bartender, Celebrimbor, & Lam from the Smackdown Corps also followed Jihad Jane over the years. And Star CMC was instrumental both in the Corps and in enlisting the help of members of the Free Republic forum for various YouTube smackdowns. But one individual in particular decided that Colleen's pro-terrorism videos and statements crossed a line last year. I think we all thought of Colleen as pathetic and perhaps deranged. But at some time a year or more ago she also caught this person's attention and they made the judgment that Colleen was also dangerous. This is their story:

I initially started on youtube with a channel dedicated to performing arts. Due to some disturbing comments I received on videos of Middle East Performing Arts by some so-called fanatical muslims posting comments such as, "if this were my sister I could kill her" or "if I ever if I ever see this girl I will rape her", I decided to open up a new channel and investigate further where this blind hatred for women in Middle East Performing Arts came from. One thing lead to another and the next thing I knew, I was dealing with fanatics such as JihadJane/FatimaLaRose whose real identity was later revealed as Colleen LaRose. I noted this woman's dedication to Osama Bin Laden and her extreme hatred to the U.S. and all those who were not Muslim wishing death upon us as well as favoriting and commenting on every terrorist video on YouTube posting comments such as "you are doing a good job". Over the course of approximately 1 1/2 years we exchanged comments on YouTube in reference to her fanatical beliefs, at times me becoming her main rival which drew attention from others who were monitoring her, mainly the Youtube SmackDown group who were responsible for removing many terrorist vids from youtube.

Bit by bit I learned more about Colleen through her comments or by all the information she recklessly left about herself on the web. I came to know her as a middle aged sociopath woman desperate for love, lonely and isolated, with a deep hatred for the U.S. blaming them for all her problems. She claimed her conversion to Islam was related to meeting a Muslim while on vacation in Holland who somehow made her feel special which became her quest to find a much younger wealthy Muslim husband as evident by her other website accounts with photos of possible husbands including one with stashes of cash piled around his body. Many of her comments revealed a possible husband, much younger than her, and her typical excited giggles plus questions on visa websites asking how to get this possible husband to her. All of this later revealed in searches on the web after she became radicalized. Since Fatima metamorphosed into the perfect recruit, her previous internet activity was easy to track which she listed her real name, birth date, location, and even online pictures of herself. She was the perfect recruit for extremist; lonely, isolated, blaming others for her problems, in the middle of a midlife crisis, and upset that she had to care for her elderly mother. She lashed out and converted to Islam then used this as an excuse to lash out further at society for being at fault for her problems and citing her elderly mother she had to care for who did not approve of her conversion.

Fast track to the period I came to know Colleen, she had already become radicalized. Due to her radical postings in support of Osama Bin Laden claiming him as her Sheik and idolizing 9/11 coupled with our internet encounters, I soon became friends with the group that was tracking internet terrorism - YoutubeSmackDown. We started sharing information since Colleen became their main source for finding terrorist videos on YouTube since she was the main source for favoriting them. During this period we all noticed Colleen becoming more terroristic with the U.S. for her personal problems and more fanatical in her beliefs. Many of these members had never heard of me and I had never heard of them before. However it soon became a joint effort since we watched a potential terrorist coming to life on YouTube becoming more radicalized as days went on and more of a real threat to the U.S. Colleen went from being angry at the U.S. as a sociopath blaming them for all her problems in life to actually contacting real terrorists plotting terroristic threats against the U.S. Although Youtube Smackdown was responsible for removing most of her terrorist accounts, she remained determined to create more accounts on YouTube promoting terrorism against the U.S. and grew more of a following of real terrorist as time went on, joining online terrorist websites and promoting them on her YouTube channels.

When she finally made an account which she actively solicited funds for the Pakistan Mujaheddin, which at this point I knew she had acquired the contacts for, I knew she had become a real threat for our safety and had officially violated U.S. Federal Law. It was time to report her. This being in July 2009 I formally called the FBI in Philadelphia to report her. Without the combined effort of Youtube Smackdown and members of that group which I did not know on a personal basis until our combined efforts of exposing Colleen, none of this would of taken place. Most of us still remain anonymous to each other except for a few group contacts that collaborated this effort and exchanged much information in tracking Colleen on the web. This was a group effort that deserves more pats on the back than just my story with many more plain citizens with their own stories watching out for the U.S. and our safety and security who phase into my story on how we all came together to bring down a terrorist and watched her metamorphosise into a terrorist on YouTube. Thanks to so many anonymous that we all came together to bring a terrorist down and the real life story of how it evolved. We are plain citizens of the U.S. Without us, the FBI may of never been onto her. Wish to remain anonymous and special thanks to the Youtube Smackdown Group. We did a good job here.

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Seven quizzed over 'murder plot'

March 11, 2010 -- Seven Muslims detained in Ireland over a suspected plot to assassinate a Swedish cartoonist, allegedly masterminded by a self-styled "Jihad Jane", are facing another three days of questioning. Four men and three women were detained in the south east of the country over an alleged international conspiracy to murder Lars Vilks, who controversially depicted the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog.

Two Libyan men and a woman, one Algerian man and a Palestinian woman had their periods of detention extended at a closed court hearing on Wednesday night while a U.S. woman and Croatian man were ordered back into garda custody at a brief sitting on Thursday. They can be questioned until Sunday morning. The group had been arrested on Tuesday in a series of raids by anti-terrorist units acting on intelligence from the CIA, FBI and European agencies.

A judge at Waterford District Court agreed to a special closed sitting to protect the investigation as U.S. caretaker Colleen LaRose, who styled herself Jihad Jane in a YouTube video, was charged with plotting the murder bid. She was accused in the U.S. on Tuesday of conspiring with jihadist fighters and pledging to commit murder in the name of a Muslim holy war, or jihad.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, the 46-year-old, who also goes by the name Fatima LaRose, plotted with five others in South Asia, Eastern and Western Europe and the U.S. to recruit men on the internet to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe. They are also accused of recruiting women online to travel to and around Europe supporting violent jihad. It is understood LaRose agreed to marry an online contact from South Asia so he could move to Europe. US prosecutors said she was ordered to kill Mr Vilks in a way which would frighten "the whole Kufar (non-believer) world".

The seven people held in Ireland, aged from their mid-20s to late 40s, can be questioned for another 72 hours when detectives can ask a judge to extend their detention for another 48 hours. Some of those arrested in Ireland have been legally in the country for up to 10 years. It is understood at least one of the suspects is a naturalised Irish citizen while a number of others have attempted to claim asylum.

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"I turned in Colleen 'Jihad Jane' LaRose to the FBI"

'Net posse tracked 'Jihad Jane' for three years

March 11, 2010 -- While the rest of America was stunned to hear that a suburban Pennsylvania woman allegedly used the Internet identity of Jihad Jane and tried to join militant jihadists, for a group of 'Net vigilantes it was old news. In fact, at least one of the Web sleuths claims to have alerted the feds to Colleen LaRose's alleged efforts to raise money and recruit fighters for Islamic terrorists and to carry out her own jihad. Groups like JawaReport, Quoth the Raven and the YouTube Smackdown Corps claim they had been monitoring LaRose's growing militancy for three years, and watched as the Internet - particularly YouTube - fed her fervor.

They also said "Jihad Jane" is not the only one on the Internet that the groups are monitoring. "There are certainly many others out there who are more eloquent and appear to be more dangerous from the way they talk," a man calling himself Rusty Shackleford told ABC News. Shackleford, a pen name, says he is a libertarian college professor who created the blog JawaReport in 2004 after he was enraged that Iraqi Islamists had beheaded an American named Nick Berg. "It was my way of venting. But mostly it was about countering violent Islamist propaganda, specifically the videos that were being produced by al Qaeda in Iraq and other Salaafist jihadists fighting our troops," he said. Shackleford said his goal from the beginning was combating violent Islamist material and support on the Web. "I'm a blogger, but also an activist against violent Islamism. One of the things we do is try and pressure Webhosts to remove Websites that belong to terrorist organizations. An example of this would be the dozen or so times we've successfully had the Taliban's website removed. The websites sometimes pop back up, sometimes not," Shackleford said.

Shackleford and other contributors to JawaReport and sites like it noticed YouTube had become a hub for videos and comments in support of violent extremism and attacks against the West and its allies, leading to the creation of the YouTube Smackdown. Shackleford said the groups identify videos in support of violent Islamism and pressure the Web site to take them down, "as they would child pornography or other obscene material." According to the Quoth the Raven blog, since the "smackdown" movement began in 2007, users have had over 31,000 videos removed from YouTube, and 695 users suspended. They say LaRose was one of those suspended.

Victoria Grand, head of policy for YouTube could not comment specifically on LaRose's alleged videos, but did say YouTube depended on it's community to flag innapropriate content. "We have 20 hours of video uploaded to the site every minute, it's a ton of content and we don't prescreen content, it's not possible. We have an innovative community policing mechanism in place," Grand said. According to Grand, YouTube's policy for inappropriate content includes incitement of violence, hate speech, graphic violence, and members of foreign terrorist organizations. "We always are trying to balance the idea of free speech and the idea of national security and keeping our users safe," she said.

For those policing YouTube for alleged terrorist content, they say LaRose was constantly on their radar. "A few years ago a few of us began to notice her YouTube postings. Like many other YouTube users supportive of violent jihad, she would often post al Qaeda or related videos," Shackleford said. "It was pretty hard to miss her," said Robert, an administrator of SmackdownCorps.com. "She made lots and lots of encouraging comments on Islamic videos. The trick was to find her new user name after we suspended each account. She was very persistent. But again, she made it easy to find her." Robert said as he followed LaRose on YouTube, he witnessed her descent into violent extremism. "In my eyes, Jihad Jane was a product of YouTube. I watched her become more radicalized and her influence grew all on YouTube. YouTube provided an excellent platform for her to spread her message of hate and she used it well. She was seen as, and portrayed herself on YouTube as, a mother figure to the young Islamists and they respected her and looked up to her," he alleges.

"She was one who would post comments on the terrorist videos which I was viewing, things like 'Allah Akbar!' or 'Kill the kafir pigs' or 'Kill the Jews' kinds of things. Those types of statements put her on my radar," said a person affiliated with the YouTube Smackdown and the JawaReport who wished to only be known as a "42-year-old mom from the Mid West." According to Mid West Mom, she noticed LaRose a year and a half ago, and although she admits "feeling sorry" for La Rose, she also said she knew she "needed to be stopped." "The question is, are they serious or are they just blowing steam? It's very difficult to tell. Colleen crossed the line as far as I was concerned when she started recruiting to raise funds for the mujahedeen back in June of last year. Not only was she a terrorist sympathizer, she was now operating illegally," Midwest Mom said.

One person claimed responsibility on the JawaReport for alerting the FBI to "Jihad Jane," saying that she was gathering a growing following of "real terrorists." "When she finally made an account which she actively solicited funds for the Pakistan Mujaheddin, which at this point I knew she had acquired the contacts for, I knew she had become a real threat for our safety and had officially violated U.S. Federal Law," the anonymous blogger wrote. "It was time to report her. This being in July 2009 I formally called the FBI in Philadelphia to report her." When the FBI was asked if a member of YouTube Smackdown tipped them off to "Jihad Jane," Special Agent J.J. Klaver of the Philadelphia office said, "I can't comment on the case at all, any aspect of it." But the federal indictment of LaRose cites Internet communications as early as March 2009. According to the indictment, LaRose has been indicted on federal charges that include providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to kill in a foreign country. The indictment also says La Rose and her co-conspirators tried to recruit fighters and solicited funds for terrorists organizations online.

There are numerous jihadist sites on the Web. They range from small time bloggers like "Jihad Jane" and the Mujahideen of the YouTube, to the Taliban and militant cleric Anwar al Awlaki who had conversations with both Fort Hood gunman Major Nidal Malik Hasan and the alleged "underwear bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who tried to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day. Shackleford described what is going on online between his groups and the extremists as "war," and said to him there is certainly an "e-Jihad" going on. "Anwar al Awlaki had a lengthy discourse on this a couple of years ago: 44 ways to support the jihad, electronic jihad being front and center," he said. "I don't know that there is a front line in the war on terror. That might be part of the problem. It could be said the whole world is the front line, but the online aspect is certainly a central battlefield," said Robert. "Terror is a weapon that needs media coverage to succeed and the Internet provides the perfect vehicle for them. I would say that is a serious battle and I am not sure who is winning. This seems to be a back burner issue for many, but it really needs to be addressed," he said.