“Cyber Jihad” Inciters Jailed

First U.K. sentences handed down for inciting terrorist murder on the Internet.

Three men have been jailed in Britain for inciting terrorist murder on the Internet.   Younis Tsouli, 23, Tariq Al-Daour, 21, and Wasemm Mughal were all found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court in London. Moroccan-born Tsouli, a computer expert who worked with Al-Queda, received 10 years. Al-Daour, a British citizen born in the Arab Emirates, was given six-and-a-half years, while Mughal, who has a degree in chemistry from Leicester University, received seven-and-a-half years.   This was the first British prosecution for such an incident.   All three had pleaded guilty to the charge of inciting another person or persons to commit an act of terrorism wholly or partly outside the U.K. which would, if committed in England or Wales, constitute murder. Additionally, they admitted to conspiring to defraud banks and credit card companies.   Tsouli was known as Irhabi007 online, and helped distribute Al-Queda videos on the Internet. He was arrested in 2005 after two terrorist suspects were arrested in Bosnia. Examination of their cell phone records led to the arrest of more than 30 people across Europe and North America.   As he passed sentence, judge Mr. Justice Openshaw said that the three men had tried to incite a “cyber jihad.” Referring to Tsouli, whom he said should be deported to Morocco after completing his sentence, the judge pronounced that “he came no closer to a bomb or a firearm than a computer keyboard.”