An Islamist website claims to have moved from a U.S.-based server to one in Russia following continued pressure from its U.S. server to remove jihadist material from the site.
In a message to subscribers on February 27, 2008, the Islamist website www.al-farooq.net announced the removal of jihadist material following threats from U.S. authorities to shut down the site if it did not comply.
At the time, the website claimed that it had agreed to remove jihadist material from the site in order to avoid being shut down, but that "eliminating [jihad content] from the website's sections cannot eliminate [jihad] from our hearts."
However, a review of the site following the ostensible removal of the jihadist material showed that the changes were cosmetic only. While the site no longer included designated iihad sections, sits other section still saturated with iihad-promoting material in. [1]
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In another message to subscribers on March 9, 2008, the Islamist website www.al-farooq.net claimed that it had switched from a U.S.-based server to one in Russia after the U.S.-based host once again threatened to shut down the site if the jihadist material was not removed.
However, MEMRI's investigation shows that only the IP address associated with www.al-farooq.net is registered to an address in Moscow, while the host itself is now in the Netherlands (RIPE Network Coordination Centre, Amsterdam).
For more from MEMRI Islamist Websites Monitor Project, see below:
Special Dispatch/Inquiry & Analysis Series
- Islamist Forum Posts Instructions for Conducting "Media Jihad"
No. 1867 - March 12, 2008 - Al-Qaeda Commander in Northern Iraq: We Are in Dire Straits
No. 1866 - March 11, 2008 - Islamist Website Allegedly Under Pressure From U.S. Intelligence
No. 1860 - March 5, 2008 - Release of New Book by Ayman Al-Zawahiri, in Response to Sayyed Imam: A Treatise Exonerating the Nation of the Pen and the Sword from the Blemish of the Accusation of Weakness and Fatigue
No. 1859 - March 4, 2008 - Islamist Forum Member Suggests Stirring Up Racial Tension in U.S.
No. 1853 - February 27, 2008 - Islamist Debate: Are Muslim U.K. Visa Holders and Muslim U.K. Citizens Permitted to Carry Out Attacks in Great Britain?
No. 1821 - January 23, 2008 - "In Spite of the Trials and Tribulations a Bright and Promising Future Is in Store for Islam and Its Champions": American Al-Qaeda Operative Yahya Adam's Desperate Attempt to Turn Americans against Their Government and His Urgent Call to Mujahideen to Attack Bush in His Coming Visit to the Middle East
No. 1802 - January 6, 2008 - Women's Forums on Islamist Websites - Tools For Preparing Women to Carry Out Jihad and Suicide Operations
No. 419 - February 1, 2008
Exposing Jihadists' Use of Western ISPs
- Jihadists Broaden Reach by Launching English-Language Forums, Blogs
No.1777 December 4, 2007 - Islamist Websites Change Tactics: The Case of the Al-Ekhlaas Forum
No.1745 October 23, 2007 - Jihadist/Islamist Websites and Their Hosts (List III): Websites Supporting Jihad in Iraq - Hosted in the West
No.1741 October 16, 2007 - Jihadist/Islamist Websites and Their Hosts (List II): Websites Supporting the Jihad in Iraq - Hosted in the U.S.
No.1678 August 10, 2007 - The Enemy Within: Where Are the Islamist/Jihadist Websites Hosted, and What Can Be Done About It?
No.374 July 19, 2007
[1] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 1860, "Islamist Website Allegedly Under Pressure from U.S. Intelligence", March 5, 2008,
http://memrijttm.org/content/en/report.htm?report=2526 .
