Online Co. Shuts Down Site With Beheading

[RoyGBiv]

Online Co. Shuts Down Site With Beheading
By SEAN YOONG, Associated Press Writer

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The al-Qaida-linked Web site that first posted a video of American civilian Nicholas Berg's beheading was shut down Thursday by the Malaysian company that hosted it — because it was drawing too much traffic.

A senior officer of the company, Acme Commerce Sdn. Bhd., said Thursday it was not aware that the site, www.al-ansar.biz, may have been connected to al-Qaida or that offensive material had been posted on it. If it had, the company would likely have shut it down earlier, said Alfred Lim, Acme Commerce's business manager.

"We are a legitimate business, in no way related to al-Qaida," Lim told The Associated Press. "We have no control over what our clients put on their Web sites."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=516&ncid=721&e=10&u=/ap/20040513/ap_on_re_as/malaysia_berg

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. Here's some info on al-ansar.biz

al-ansar.biz
Domain Name: AL-ANSAR.BIZ
Domain ID: D3802752-BIZ
Sponsoring Registrar: GO DADDY SOFTWARE, INC.
Domain Status: ok
Registrant ID: GODA-02193073
Registrant Name: Omar AbuOmar
Registrant Organization: Al-ansar Biz
Registrant Address1: new dream st 33
Registrant City: nurnberg
Registrant State/Province: Not Applicable
Registrant Postal Code: 42114
Registrant Country: Denmark
Registrant Country Code: DK
Registrant Phone Number: +965.15441211
Registrant Email: [email protected]
Administrative Contact ID: GODA-22193073
Administrative Contact Name: Omar AbuOmar
Administrative Contact Organization: Al-ansar Biz
Administrative Contact Address1: new dream st 33
Administrative Contact City: nurnberg
Administrative Contact State/Province: Not Applicable
Administrative Contact Postal Code: 42114
Administrative Contact Country: Denmark
Administrative Contact Country Code: DK
Administrative Contact Phone Number: +965.15441211
Administrative Contact Email: [email protected]
Billing Contact ID: GODA-32193073
Billing Contact Name: Omar AbuOmar
Billing Contact Organization: Al-ansar Biz
Billing Contact Address1: new dream st 33
Billing Contact City: nurnberg
Billing Contact State/Province: Not Applicable
Billing Contact Postal Code: 42114
Billing Contact Country: Denmark
Billing Contact Country Code: DK
Billing Contact Phone Number: +965.15441211
Billing Contact Email: [email protected]
Technical Contact ID: GODA-12193073
Technical Contact Name: Omar AbuOmar
Technical Contact Organization: Al-ansar Biz
Technical Contact Address1: new dream st 33
Technical Contact City: nurnberg
Technical Contact State/Province: Not Applicable
Technical Contact Postal Code: 42114
Technical Contact Country: Denmark
Technical Contact Country Code: DK
Technical Contact Phone Number: +965.15441211
Technical Contact Email: [email protected]
Name Server: NS11.TASSMEEM.NET
Name Server: NS12.TASSMEEM.NET
Created by Registrar: GO DADDY SOFTWARE, INC.
Last Updated by Registrar: GO DADDY SOFTWARE, INC.
Domain Registration Date: Tue Jan 07 01:54:38 GMT 2003
Domain Expiration Date: Thu Jan 06 23:59:59 GMT 2005
Domain Last Updated Date: Sat Jan 03 20:54:01 GMT 2004

>>>> Whois database was last updated on: Wed May 12 17:06:23 GMT 2004 <<<<

[RoyGBiv]

2. Found this small tidbit...

al-ansar.biz

ID #: 108

MoD number: 20040417154812

Status: active

Orientation: Salafyist/Jihadist

Type: Discussion Forum, BBS

Site: http://www.al-ansar.biz/

IP: 202.157.176.119

Domain Name Whois:

Site Summary:
Considered among the top 4 or 5 jihadist web forums of the salafist variety. Very popular with both European and Gulf islamists.

ISP:
webserver.com.my
Their policies are posted here
Contact information is here
The webserver.com.my domain name is registered to one SL Lim:
Lim, SL [email protected]
57-1, Jln 3/93, Miharja
KL, WP 55200
MY
603-9819329

Additional Information:

Change Log (formerly Misc.):

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Omar Abu Omar is the supposed owner of the site

Google his name and a bunch of stuff comes up. I thought this little tidbit was interesting. I haven't been able to figure out yet, if he is still in custody or not? I've got to get my kid ready for school, so maybe someone else can sniff around some more.


http://www.fairuk.org/DND20030113Mon.htm

Omar Abu Omar, better known as 'Abu Qatada', was arrested in south London after nearly a year on the run. Though Palestinian-born, he has long been involved with Algerian groups, acting mainly as a religious adviser. He also advised bin Laden. Djamal Beghal, a French-based Algerian involved with the GSPC, was sent by the senior al-Qaeda leadership to recruit cells in western Europe in the summer of 2001.

[RoyGBiv]

4. More stuff...

Apparently, this individual has been linked to Mohammed Atta as well as Chechen rebels. The latter might explain some things.

In September of 2002, one year after the attacks on New York and Washington, French intelligence officials angrily accused MI5 of failing to cooperate in stifling Islamic terrorist groups. The level of assistance received from British intelligence was described as being "worse than before" September 11th.

The French specifically referred to the case of Abu Qatada, a 43-year-old militant Muslim cleric born in Jordan. Qatada is described by many as the leader and mastermind of Al-Qaeda's European network. Videos of Mr Qatada's speeches were found in the Hamburg flat of Mohamed Atta, who is believed to have been the leader of the September 11 hijackers.9 Qatada has links with terror suspects in Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Britain and Spain. Baltasar Garzon, a Spanish National High Court judge charged with leading Spain's Al-Qaeda crackdown, named Qatada as the "spiritual head of the mujahideen in Britain."

http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/8-12-03/discussion.cgi.42.html

[RoyGBiv]

5. He is apparently...

This is from a CNN story from April about another cleric in London.

"The UK government has long described as one of the two most influential al Qaeda-linked radical clerics in Britain, along with Abu Qatada, a Syrian national now jailed without charge under post-September 11 emergency powers."

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/04/26/uk.hamza/index.html

OnEdit: He's being held in Britain, according to this story:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/terrorism/s_193535.html

"When they were surrounded by police in a Madrid area apartment on April 3, the militants placed three calls to the phone number of Abu Qatada, a Syrian jailed without charge in Britain under post-September 11 emergency powers, news agency EFE reported."

[DoYouEverWonder]

6. So he's running his website from jail?

Or is it just someone else using his name?

One of the first sites to have the video was "Northeast Intelligence Network".

This is the original link posted on DU, but the video has been removed.

http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/iraq2vediom.wmv


The site is run by Douglas Hagmann. Doug is one of those self-made al Qaeda, terrorist 'experts' that Tom Ridge likes to use has one of his private intel sources. Odd that this fellow who is such a tool for HS, should be the one of the first to put this video out there?

http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/faq.asp

[RoyGBiv]

7. Someone using his name...

That was my question as well. There is some confusion and inconsistency in reports about who he is. Some news stories say he's a Jordanian national; others say he is from Syria.

He was also placed on a list of people whose assets were to be frozen in the wake of the 9/11 attacks:

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2001/11/08/sanctionsconlist.pdf

It's down the page a bit, listed under UTHMAN, Omar, which is apparently his original name. He had a large number of aliases.

There is a lot of peculiar stuff about this individual. The speculation among some that he had at one time protection from MI5 is particularly odd.

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. Here's some stuff about British Intel keeping him a 'safe' house

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,300609,00.html

Sheltering A Puppet Master?

Sunday, Jul. 07, 2002

As worldwide investigations into the mysteries of the Sept. 11 terror conspiracy roll on, officials in Europe have pondered an enigma: Where is Abu Qatada? Described by some justice officials as the spiritual leader and possible puppet master of al-Qaeda's European networks, Abu Qatada has been missing since mid-December after British authorities confiscated his passport, froze his assets and ordered him confined to his London home. With Jordan seeking his return to serve a life sentence for terror-related crimes, some observers figured Abu Qatada went underground-and perhaps left Britain-to avoid extradition. But senior European intelligence officials tell TIME that Abu Qatada is tucked away in a safe house in the north of England, where he and his family are being lodged, fed and clothed by British intelligence services. "The deal is that Abu Qatada is deprived of contact with extremists in London and Europe but can't be arrested or expelled because no one officially knows where he is," says the source, whose claims were corroborated by French authorities. "The British win because the last thing they want is a hot potato they can't extradite for fear of al-Qaeda reprisals but whose presence contradicts London's support of the war on terror." British security services officials declined to comment.


This story just gets weirder and weirder the deeper you dig. If the Brits had him to begin with, why did they give him such good treatment and how did he go from being in their custody, back to the street(?) and now to jail?

[RoyGBiv]

12. Abu Omar

While this story is proving fascinating in and of itself to dig through, we may be looking at the wrong individual for the relation to the website that got shut down.

I found this on the Excluded Parties Listing system:

Name : SAMUDRA, Imam
Class : individual
Record Type : Primary
Exclusion Type : Specially Designated Nationals
DUNS : -- --
Program : SDGT
Address :
Description : DOB 14 Jan 1970; POB Serang, Banten, Indonesia; a.k.a.
'Abdul Aziz'; a.k.a. 'Abu Omar'; a.k.a. 'Fatih'; a.k.a.
'Hendri'; a.k.a. 'Heri'; a.k.a. 'Kudama'

http://epls.arnet.gov/TerList307.html

Of course this may not be the person either, although he is a computer expert. This name is associated with the Bali Bomber, who has been sentenced to death. Here's a striking quote from him from May, 2003:

ACCUSED BALI bomber Imam Samudra is at it again:

"Hey Bush, John Howard ... like this," he said, running his hands across his throat in a threatening gesture. Then he called out to the crowd: "You (are) also next. I get.

"Gun, gun for you. Don't forget (this is a) terrorist country. Life for life. Soul for soul. I am a killer for you.

"As long as you kill our Muslim country, we also attack your country and your people."

http://timblair.spleenville.com/archives/002740.php

More info on him:

http://www.trackingthethreat.com/db/ENT1903.htm

So many of these aliases used have a meaning and end up being shared in various forms. Hard to know sometimes who one is looking for.

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. His webhost is in Malyasia

Which doesn't mean anything.

However, Omar claims to be in Denmark. Which would point back to our friend who is either in England, Denmark or jail? I wonder if there really is a 33 New Dream St. Nurnburg, Denmark?

Registrant City: nurnberg
Registrant State/Province: Not Applicable
Registrant Postal Code: 42114
Registrant Country: Denmark
Registrant Country Code: DK

Technical Contact Name: Omar AbuOmar
Technical Contact Organization: Al-ansar Biz
Technical Contact Address1: new dream st 33
Technical Contact City: nurnberg


BTW: You're right about how hard it is trying to figure out who's who. Especially, when you're looking for needles in haystacks.

[Toucano]

17. Nurnburg is spelled Nurnberg.

I haven't found a "Dream St."

[bobthedrummer]

8. Thanks, DoYouEverWonder.

:hi:

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. Since when do inmates have telephones?

And if you are surrounded by police what do you do? Start making phone calls to an Islamic Militant Terrorist who happens to be in jail?

[Kukesa]

10. Amazing, absolutely amazing.

Glad you're on our side. I wish there more inquiring minds that want to know.

[TahitiNut]

13. Arabic naming ... (CORRECTION)

... 'abu' means "father of" in the same patronymic/patrilineal fashion that 'Johnson' once meant "son of John" or 'Andersen' ('Andersdottir') meant "son of Anders" ("daughter of Anders"). 'bin' (or 'ben') as in 'bin Laden' (or 'ben Hur') means "son of".

'Omar abu Omar' sounds very much like a pseudonym to me.

[RoyGBiv]

14. Thanks for that... n/t

[Scooter24]

15. Give it...

a few months and it will be all over the internet via Kazaa. All it takes is a few seconds online to get it out to millions.