Thursday, November 19, 2009

Saudi Arabia battles increasing number of al-Qaida linked websites

Abdulmanam Almushawah, the head of a Saudi government program called Assakeena, checks radical web sites in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009. Assakeena, Arabic for "God's Presence", aims at combating Islamic militant Web sites. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Increasing numbers of English-language Web sites are spreading al-Qaida's message to Muslims in the West.
They translate writings and sermons once largely out of reach of English readers and often feature charismatic clerics like Anwar al-Awlaki, who exchanged dozens of e-mails with the Army psychiatrist accused of the Fort Hood shootings.
The U.S.-born al-Awlaki has been an inspiration to several militants arrested in the United States and Canada in recent years, with his Web-based sermons often turning up on their computers.
"The point is you don't have to be an official part of al-Qaida to spread hatred and sectarian views," said Evan Kohlmann, a senior investigator for the New York-based NEFA Foundation, which researches Islamic militants. MORE HERE

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