http://prisonplanet.com/Pages/Jul05/090705website.html
The claim of responsibility for the London attacks was first
posted on one of the dozens of Islamic websites that are routinely
monitored by western intelligence services.
The statement, under the name of the Secret Organisation of
the al-Qaida Jihad in Europe, said: "The heroic
mujahideen have carried out a blessed raid in London. Britain
is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern,
southern, eastern and western quarters."
It was posted on an Arabic website, al-qal3ah.com, which is
registered by Qalaah Qalaah in Abu Dhabi and hosted by a server
in Houston, Texas.
But two Israeli groups devoted to exposing the network of jihadist
sites claim that it is connected to the London-based Saudi dissident
Saad al-Faqih. Mr Faqih, who is based in Willesden, north-west
London, and runs the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (Mira),
was designated by the US treasury last December as a supporter
of al-Qaida. The UK Treasury followed suit by freezing Mr Faqih's
assets.
Speaking in December 2004 before the assets were frozen, Mr
Faqih ridiculed any idea that "millions of dollars"
would be frozen. "I have no assets in the US and all I
have in the UK is a current account with a few hundred pounds."
The US claimed that Mr Faqih was an associate of Khaled al-Fawwaz,
who was arrested in Britain on a US extradition warrant for
his alleged involvement in the 1998 east African embassy bombings.
The US said that "extremists utilise a website controlled
by al-Faqih and Mira on messageboards to post al-Qaida-related
statements and images. While Mira has issued disclaimers warning
users to not attribute postings on Mira message boards to al-Qaida,
information available to the US and UK governments shows that
the messages are intended to provide ideological and financial
support to al-Qaida affiliated networks and potential recruits."
Mr Faqih has always vigorously denied being involved with terrorism.
Yesterday he was indignant about being linked to the website.
"It does not belong to me at all,"
he told the Guardian. "It is a Zionist smear."
He had seen the message on Thursday morning and doubted its
authenticity. "It was only there for a few minutes,
and they misquoted the Qur'an." He also said the
website - or more accurately a bulletin board - could be used
by anyone.
The server in Houston has intriguing connections. Everyone's
Internet was founded by brothers Robert and Roy Marsh in 1998
and by 2002 had an income of more than $30m (now about ?7m).
Renowned for his charitable work, Roy Marsh counts among his
friends President George Bush's former sister-in-law, Sharon
Bush, and the president's navy secretary.
Everyone's Internet, which also hosts a number of pornographic
sites, states: "We support the uncensored flow of information
and ideas over the internet and do not actively monitor subscriber
activity under normal circumstances."
However, the company has responded to requests to take down
objectionable material and insists it cooperates with US law
enforcement agencies
