INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR: PAPER NO. 638
B.RAMAN
The case of Colleen La Rose also known as Jihad Jane and Fatima La Rose, who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) a fortnight after the arrest of David Coleman Headley of the Chicago cell of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) in October,2009, and indicted on March 4,2010, on a charge of involvement in a conspiracy to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had drawn a cartoon of Prophet Mohammad in his paper, has not received in India the attention it deserves.
2. Colleen La Rose, a 46-year-old blonde from the Philadelphia area, where Headley used to live for some years before shifting to Chicago, had a troubled personal life. She was a volunteer for jihad who was recruited by an unidentified person in South Asia through the Internet and given the task of killing the Swedish cartoonist, just as Ilyas Kashmiri initially tasked Headley through the Internet to kill the Danish cartoonist, who had published cartoons of the Prophet in a Danish paper in 2005. Headley subsequently met Ilyas in North Waziristan. There is so far no indication that Jihad Jane had met her South Asian recruit to whom she got engaged without ever having met him.
3. Whoever initially recruited Headley and Jihad Jane seems to have done so for two reasons. Firstly, both of them had typical physical features of a White American. They did not look like Muslims and could , therefore, easily evade profiling. Headley looked a typical White despite his Pakistani origin. Jihad Jane is a typical White with no mixed blood. Secondly, both of them are US nationals with valid US passports with which they could travel easily without facing difficulties in obtaining visas and in going through immigration controls.
4. Both of them had been given double tasks. Headley was given the tasks of facilitating the operations of the LET in India and attacking the office of the Danish paper in Copenhagen with the help of sleeper cells in Europe to which Ilyas had given introduction. Headley had played an active role in helping the LET in carrying out the terrorist strikes in Mumbai between November 26 and 29,2008.Jihad Jane had the dual task of killing the Swedish cartoonist with the help of Ireland-based contacts in Europe and organising acts of terrorism in South Asia. In the evidence against her, the reference is to South Asia and not specifically to India.
5. The FBI has revealed the nationalities of her seven accomplices who were picked up in Ireland, but not their identifying particulars.Of the seven arrested in Ireland two are Algerians, two Libyans, a Palestinian, a Croatian, and an American woman married to one of the two arrested Algerians. The FBI documents available so far do not say anything about her South Asian fiancee. They are silent even about his nationality. He has been described as a man who claimed that he knew how to work with bombs and explosives.
6.In June 2008, Jihad Jane had posted a comment on YouTube saying she was “desperate to do something somehow to help” suffering Muslims. According to the FBI indictment, she appears to have been contacted by the jihadis thereafter. The indictment charges that she received a direct order to kill a Swedish resident. She traveled to Sweden and tracked the target with the intent of carrying out the murder. The FBI identified the target as cartoonist Lars Vilks.In an e-mail message to a co-conspirator, she wrote that she would pursue her mission “till I achieve it or die trying,” according to the indictment.The indictment accuses her of agreeing, in March 2009, to marry a co-conspirator from a South Asian country who was trying to obtain residency in Europe.He allegedly urged her to go to Sweden, find the Swedish man "and kill him". The indictment claims she tried to raise money over the internet, lure others to her cause, and lied to FBI investigators.
7. According to US media reports, she is also linked to an online organization Revolutionmuslim.com -- where she was a subscriber, again using the name Jihad Jane. The site is run by an American Muslim, who had made the following posting after she was indicted: "Sisters -- please consider sending her [LaRose] a message of support and hope and let's remind her she isn't alone. It's likely she's the only Muslimah there. As always, use discretion when writing, don't ask pointed questions, and of course don't say anything that could create problems for her or yourselves."
8.She has been accused not only of conspiring to murder the cartoonist, but also of allegedly trying to recruit women with Western passports to marry fellow violent jihadists and of raising money for terrorist causes.
9.The US Department of Justice has issued the following statement regarding her indictment:
"The indictment charges that LaRose (an American citizen born in 1963 who resides in Montgomery County, Pa.) and five unindicted co-conspirators (located in South Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and the United States) recruited men on the Internet to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe, and recruited women on the Internet who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad.
"The indictment further charges that LaRose and her unindicted co-conspirators used the Internet to establish relationships with one another and to communicate regarding their plans, which included martyring themselves, soliciting funds for terrorists, soliciting passports and avoiding travel restrictions (through the collection of passports and through marriage) in order to wage violent jihad. The indictment further charges that LaRose stole another individual’s U.S. passport and transferred or attempted to transfer it in an effort to facilitate an act of international terrorism.
"In addition, according to the indictment, LaRose received a direct order to kill a citizen and resident of Sweden, and to do so in a way that would frighten "the whole Kufar [non-believer] world." The indictment further charges 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 in while carrying out her plans. According to the indictment, LaRose traveled to Europe and tracked the intended target online in an effort to complete her task."
10.Available details regading the indictment do not identify the South Asian "with knowledge of bombs and explosives" with whom she fell in love through the Internet and who recruited her for acts of terrorism in Sweden and South Asia, but the available particulars of the modus operandi of recruiting and using non-Muslim looking Whites for terrorist strikes point the needle of suspicion at the LET.
11.This may please be read in continuation of my earlier article of January 28,2010, titled "Female Headleys in Al Qaeda?" at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers37/paper3631.html ( 3-4-10)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
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9 comments:
I think you need to change the column name to Muslim Terrorism Monitor. The FBI recently arrested members of the Hutari militia in the USA for planning to wage a war against the government but you or other analysts haven't bothered to give it much prominence.
Further, no mention whatsover about the status of the malegaon blast kingpins even though this is a serious national security issue since people in the military were also involved.The press has chosen to remain silent over the matter!! We need unbiased reports from you, not one sided tirade against muslims.
Dear smartisl,
With all due respect, Raman Sir's blogs are not a 'one sided triade against muslims' as you make it seem. He is a true soldier of the country who is making us youngsters know what happens in the shadows. I would have you know, the conspirators of the malegaon episode are behind bars(and being tortured too). Furthermore, members of the Hindu extremist group from Goa are also in Police custody. We Hindus accept the fact that there may be extremists among us and we are effectively weeding them out of society. We do not live in a state of denial. Why else do you think BJP is out of power for the last two assembly elections? (Though I feel India needs a strong BJP at the moment).
Why don't you introspect for a change and identify and weed out the extremists from the followers of your faith just the way we are trying too? For that matter, post-godra riots get media attention (and it should, I do not disagree). But what about the massacre of Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kashmir? No siree...thats not headline stuff. So who cares, right?
By the way, we all know whats happening in Bareilly and Hyderabad...don't think we youngsters of India are not aware, and yet we make every effort to try and integrate religious minorities within the Indian society. I agree there will be friction...but comments such as yours do not help either.
By the way, is it not a fact that Pakistan and its proxies (LeT and other scum-bags) are waging a war on India under the false garb of Islam? Is it Raman Sir that is spoiling the image of Muslims the world over? Think my dear friend, think!
Dear smartist. What you fail to understand is that Al-Qaeda & LET & company & Pakistan is the biggest threat to Muslims more than non Muslims.
Think this way. Sometimes either you are problem or a solution to the problem. If you can’t solve the problem, you become part of the problem which has to be solved by others.
Al-Qaeda was the prime threat & hence a problem. Taliban ruled Afghanistan was expected to become a solution to this problem. Instead Taliban collided with Al-Qaeda & became part of the problem.
To solve this problem Pakistan was expected to come into action. Instead Pak tried to play smart & collided with Al-Qaeda & Taliban covertly & became part of the problem which has to be solved.
So, to solve this problem US & NATO came into action. But instead of solving & eliminating this problem, unfortunately over smart US also became Part of the problem which has to be solved now by others.
So you can see how deadly virus Al-Qaeda is. How badly it infects one after another.
Ever wondered why except Pakistan, India has a friendship with all the Muslim countries? Why Tajikistan gave its air base to India? Why Afghans look at Indians as their brothers & friends? Cause Indians really are. Indians in general & Raman sir in particular don’t need to prove their secular credentials because it’s a proven thing.
Raman sir is constantly writing about Al-Qaeda & Company because it’s really that big threat & if not checked on time may become death wish for Muslim countries. Who is killing Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, & Pakistan? Al-Qaida means civil war & absolute destruction for Muslim countries. Just Check out Somalia. It ceases to exist as a nation. It is Just a region & people.
Probably smart American’s don’t know how closely they are playing with fire. Indians warned them about ‘Operation Airlift Evil,’ that was the biggest blunder by Pentagon. American soldiers are dying in Afghanistan because of that. But right! What we stupid Indians know. Go ahead follow your mind.
Kay Sera Sera.
hi smartisl.
something to chew upon. One more reason why LET is a threat. this piece is from today's DAWN online publishing (Pak news paper). Pasting it as it is.
FAISALABAD: Three people of an Ahmadi family gunned down near Abdullahpur in People’s Colony police precincts on Thursday night were being threatened by unidentified people because of their religious activities, it’s learnt on Friday.
Sources said that victims Asif, Arshad and Masood contacted People’s Colony police in view of the threats a couple of weeks ago and the police advised them to limit their movement and hire guards for their security.
A police official said police were informed that some unknown people, who kidnapped Dr Arshad Karim of Mustafabad, repeatedly questioned him about the movement of Asif and Arshad. He said police talked to Arshad and Asif and came to know that they feared their kidnapping.
Dr Karim was freed one month after his abduction when his family paid Rs3 million ransom. He was kidnapped from the surroundings of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education on Jail Road.
Madina Town Police Officer Sadiq Dogar said a case had been registered against five unidentified persons under sections 148, 149 and 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act was being added to the FIR. He said raids were being conducted to arrest the suspects.
On March 9, some robbers kidnapped two boys of an Ahmadi family in Madina Town’s Y-Block and took away cash and gold ornaments from the house. They freed the boys, Bilal and Sheraz, after extorting Rs2.5 million from their family.
A police official said Lashkar-i-Taiba men could be behind the kidnappings. —Staff Correspondent
Sarang, posting comments with the words "we hindus" itself is an indicator of the malaise that all of you have towards islam. Through my earlier comment, i was only trying to point out that people like mr.raman should first look within the country(like a true soldier)rather than dedicating his research to what is happening elsewhere in the world.We need his vast experience and intelligence skills to highlight the tangle inside our beloved country rather than mindlessly targeting a particular religion since the enemy is within our country(including SIMI,LET & other outfits operating inside india)
After Mr.Karkare's murder, the investigations have stopped and no new leads have emerged. During the last 3-6 months, have you seen any newspaper or TV channel or even Mr. Raman himself updating or mentioning about pragya thakur or purohit? We are all seeing & hearing only what the government and intelligence agencies want us to & that was the point that i am trying to make and i hope you dont take it in the wrong sense again. Just because i am raising a point in favour of the muslims doesnt mean that you can assume that i am a muslim...
Ambi, you dont need to paste the article from Dawn since the same things are happening in the northern parts of our country too!Riots have been happening in villages in karnataka periodically and not a single newspaper or channel mentions it. Just pay a visit to daijiworld.com and you will understand...you will get more than you can chew.
dear smartist. I know what is happening in india, of course not in as details as you know (stupid me. so pls forgive me). what my objection to your comments was that you termed raman sir's blog as Muslim terror watch. In your last coment you said that Raman sir should look what is happening inside india, rather than looking out side.
well, he & other experts know what is happening inside india & know how to handle it. what can be the biggest success of indian policy so far, than his that despite being so close to pakistan india has saved itself from the infection of alqaeda. even America could not stop itself from felling pray to it.
india is the only country in this subcontinent which is functioning properly. every other country including Russia & China is a mess. That is the success of people like Raman sir & others who influence & make policies here.
you are right! we should look in side, but mate, until & unless you dismantle the safe house provided to organisations like let & Alqaeda, you can never handle these problems effectively. when you kill LET men in india, actually you are just cutting the branches, while the roots of tree are safe out side. & thats the problem. now let is spreading its roots in europe as well as america. so India will have to look outside the borders. just like in case of khalistani insurgency, india forced pakistan to dismantle khalistani infrastructure. thus the problem was solved.
china, pakistan, & ofcourse US the great, used & shed innocent muslim blood for their on strategic interests. India never did that.
i mean no harm to you. if i ve hurt you, than my sincere apologies. that was never my intention i hope i ve cleared my intention you. period.
dear smartis , How many terror attacks have happened on the country over the last 21 years and we have got only 1 malegoan. You are making hue and cry and trying to divert attention to one anamoly which is not even 1%. The wahabbi version of Islam trying to establish the Ismalic caliphate by use of force and preemptive violence is root cause of all ills of the world today coupled with illetracy and poverty of the people.
duvijan, if karkare was alive the score would have gone more than 1%.We have to first accept the fact that radical hindu elements in our country are responsible for the current state of attacks by virtue of their foolish ideologies and actions. Prior to the babri masjid demolition(a major part of the 21 years that you have pointed out), the incidence of attacks by extremists in the name of islam was unheard of. Incidents like this and the malegaon blasts have given the wahabis the entry point to create mischief here. There can be no smoke without fire.
Denial exists everywhere and one has to accept it instead of passing the buck. Thats why i was pointing out that weeding the culprits inside the country should be our first priority.
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