The trio, who had initially denied the terrorism charges, changed their plea to guilty more than two months into their trial at Woolwich Crown Court.
Younis Tsouli, Waseem Mughal and Tariq al-Daour were arrested in October 2005 for purchasing a range of web sites using stolen identities and credit cards. The court heard that they used the sites to publish ‘extreme propaganda’ and material produced by al-Qaeda.
A statement issued by The Metropolitan Police read:
“The extreme and explicit material was crafted to incite and recruit suicide bombers in Iraq and elsewhere who may be prepared to kill so-called disbeliever enemies on a global scale.”
Tsouli, of Richmond Way, W12, used the internet name ‘irhaby007’ – translated as ‘terrorist007’. He was responsible for updating the websites, while Mughal, of Railway Street, Chatham, Kent, assisted. Mughal and al-Daour, of Queens Court, W2, provided the stolen identities and credit card details to Tsouli.
Tsouli was also responsible for setting up and overseeing a chat room forum used by supporters of Al-Qaeda from which explosives and weapons manuals could be downloaded.
DAC Peter Clarke, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, commented on the first successful prosecution for inciting murder online:
“These three men, by their own admission, were encouraging others to become terrorists and murder innocent people.”
He continued, “Tsouli, Mughal and al-Daour used stolen identities, false credit card details and hidden chat room forums. Their terrorist tradecraft was sophisticated, but nevertheless defeated by this investigation.
“Detectives were faced with an enormous challenge – to decode and decipher a staggering quantity of computer data and websites. They should be justly proud of their efforts in this case.”
