Irish 'plot to kill cartoonist'

[skylinedrive]

Irish 'plot to kill cartoonist'
Seven people have been arrested in the Irish Republic over an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist for depicting the Prophet Muhammad, police say.

The four men and three women are all Muslim, according to media reports, though a police statement did not confirm this.

Cartoonist Lars Vilks had depicted the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog in the Nerikes Allehanda newspaper.

Islamic militants then put a $100,000 (£67,000) bounty on his head.

Irish police said the seven suspects were arrested after an investigation that also involved police in the US and other European countries.

The suspects ranged in age from their mid-20s to late-40s.

Ireland's RTE news network reported that five were detained in Waterford and two others in Cork.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8558022.stm

Published: 2010/03/09 14:45:56 GMT

© BBC MMX

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[incarcerated]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/us/10pennsylvania.html

Pennsylvania Woman Tied to Plot on Cartoonist

By CHARLIE SAVAGE AND ANAHAD O’CONNOR
Published: March 9, 2010
WASHINGTON — A Pennsylvania woman who called herself JihadJane was tied Tuesday to an alleged assassination plot against a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the prophet Muhammad atop the body of a dog.
In an indictment unsealed Tuesday, federal prosecutors accused Colleen R. LaRose, an American from the suburbs of Philadelphia, of linking up through the Internet with militants overseas and plotting to carry out a murder.

Ms. LaRose, 46, was arrested in Philadelphia in October, but her case was kept under seal. Although the indictment does not identify the target, a law enforcement official said her case was linked to the arrests Tuesday of seven Muslims in Ireland in connection with a scheme to kill the cartoonist, Lars Vilks. A group linked to Al Qaeda had put a $100,000 bounty on his head for the cartoon, which the group perceived as an insult to Islam....

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,588627,00.html

Pennsylvania Woman Charged With Recruiting Violent Jihadist Fighters

Tuesday, March 09, 2010
....In September of 2007 Al Qaeda offered a bounty for the murder of Viks.

LaRose and five unindicted co-conspirators are accused of recruiting men to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe and of recruiting women who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe for similar missions.

The accused co-conspirators are located in South Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and the United States.

"Today's indictment ... underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division.

In June 2008, LaRose posted a comment on YouTube under the username "JihadJane," stating that she is "desperate to do something somehow to help" the suffering Muslim people, according to the indictment.

She was also know to authorities as "Fatima LaRose." The indictment describes LaRose as in her 40s.

Court documents show LaRose was first arrested by federal authorities on Oct. 16, 2009, for allegedly trying to "transfer" a stolen passport.

The indictment accuses the American-born LaRose and her unindicted co-conspirators of using the Internet to establish relationships with one another and to communicate their plans, which included martyring themselves, soliciting funds for terrorists, soliciting passports and avoiding travel restrictions, through the collection of passports and through marriage, according to a government release.

LaRose, who lives in Montgomery County, Pa., received a direct order to kill someone in Sweden, and to do so in a way that would frighten "the whole Kufar [non-believer] world," according to the indictment.

It states that LaRose agreed to carry out her murder assignment, and that she and her co-conspirators discussed that her appearance and American citizenship would help her blend.

According to the indictment, LaRose traveled to Europe and tracked her intended target online, but it isn't clear whether she carried out the mission.

"This case shows the use terrorists can and do make of the Internet," U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy said. "Colleen LaRose and five other individuals scattered across the globe are alleged to have used the Internet to form a conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism, culminating in a direct order to LaRose to commit murder overseas."

LaRose is one of the first American females to be charged with a terrorism offense in the U.S.

The only other one a Department of Justice official could recall was Lynne Stewart, a New York attorney and American citizen who was convicted of terrorism violations in 2005 for passing prison messages from the "Blind Sheikh" to his followers on the outside urging violent attacks.

Last month, Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman who lived in Boston for some time but was not a U.S. citizen, was convicted in federal court in New York in connection with her attempt to kill U.S. military and law enforcement personnel in Afghanistan.

Fox News' Mike Levine contributed to this report.

[Irish_Army01]

Gardaí (Irish for Police) are continuing to question seven people arrested yesterday in connection with an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist whose portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad angered many Muslims.

The four men and three women, originally from Morocco and Yemen, were detained in Waterford and Cork.

The operation is part of an international investigation which involves police and state security services from the US and Europe.


Cartoonist Lars Vilks has been threatened over his drawing depicting the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog.

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.

Meanwhile, in the US, 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 US 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.


http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0310/waterford.html

[Richard]

IMO...

Richard's $.02 :munchin

[incarcerated]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/10/AR2010031003722.html?hpid=moreheadlines

'JihadJane' suspect dropped out before high school, married at 16

By Carrie Johnson and Alice Crites
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The Pennsylvania woman who allegedly used the Internet alias JihadJane to recruit people for violent jihad had dropped out before reaching high school and was married at age 16, the start of a bumpy life that might have left her vulnerable to radical beliefs, according to federal sources and public records....

LaRose had brushes with the law in Pennsylvania, where in 2002 she faced charges of public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, according to public records. She also fought charges in South Texas, where she lived with Sheldon "Buddy" Barnum, the man she married at 16.

In a telephone interview, Barnum, who was 32 at the time of the 1980 wedding, said: "What do I remember about her? Nothing. Wasn't nothing to remember."

[Irish_Army01]

Two people are due before Waterford District Court this morning in connection with an international investigation into an alleged plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist who is under threat from al-Qaeda.

Last night, five others brought before a special sitting of the court had their period of detention extended at the request of gardaí.

All seven, four men and three women, were arrested on Tuesday morning at locations in Waterford and Cork as part of an international investigation into alleged death threats against Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks.


As per the terms of the Criminal Justice Act, under which the seven had been arrested, gardaí did not allow reporters into the courtroom or court precincts.

A solicitor representing the three Algerians, one Libyan and one Palestinian at the hearing last night said afterwards that the periods of detention for all five had been extended at the request of the gardaí.

They can be held for a further 72 hours of questioning, with that period starting this morning.

Also this morning, the two others, a Croatian man and American woman, will be brought before the court where gardaí will also request their periods of detention be extended.


http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0311/waterford.html

[Warrior-Mentor]

IMO...

Richard's $.02 :munchin

Richard,
Something we AGREE on!
Cheers!

[Irish_Army01]

Two men charged in Waterford inquiry
Tuesday, 16 March 2010 16:10
Two men were brought before a special sitting of Waterford District Court last night.

44-year-old Ali Charaf Damache, originally from Algeria, was charged with sending a menacing telephone message, while 33-year-old Abdul-Salam Mansour Al-Jehani, originally from Libya, was charged with an immigration offence.

Both men have been remanded in custody to appear in court again on Friday.



http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0316/waterford.html