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Al-Qaeda Web forums abruptly taken offline |
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Written by Nick Farrell
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Monday, 20 October 2008 09:19 |
Gone, but not forgotten
Four of the five main online forums that al-Qaeda's media wing uses to distribute statements by Osama Bin Laden have disappeared. It was first noticed that they were gone on September 10th, but it was thought that the sites would be back online quite quickly.
In early September, the al-Fajr forums were drumming up anticipation of al-Qaeda's annual video marking the September 11, 2001, attacks. "Await Sept. 11!" the sites said. On September 29, a statement by the al-Fajr Media Centre, a distribution network created by supporters of al-Qaeda and other Sunni extremist groups, said the forums had disappeared for technical reasons. They have not been seen since. Observers say that al-Qaeda has a sudden inability to restore them or create alternate online venues, as it has before.
However, Evan Kohlmann, an expert on online al-Qaeda operations who has advised the FBI, said that the four sites that had gone down were the equivalent of pentagon.mil, whitehouse.gov, att.com. With just one authorized al-Qaeda site still in business this has left al-Qaeda's propaganda strategy hanging by a very narrow thread.
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