The Bug in Sarkozy’s Anti-Cyberjihad Plans

Last week the president-candidate of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, repeatedly spoke out against the alleged role of jihadist websites in France today. If reelected, he will target those who “regularly consult websites that glamorise terrorism or disseminate calls to hatred or violence”. The first such announcement came on Thursday, March 22. Mohamed Merah had just been killed by the forces of RAID, the French police’s rapid response counter-terrorism unit.

But jihadist websites have already attracted the attention of French counter-terrorist services. In spring 2010, a wave of arrests were carried out targeting members of an online forum, Ansar al-Haqq (meaning ‘Followers of the Truth’).

Two years later that investigation is still ongoing, amidst an absence of conclusive evidence. According to those working on the case, it  has “exploded in mid-air“. While the protagonists are involved in other proceedings, it remains the only investigation to be based solely in the virtual world of online activities.

Six suspects indicted

On April 27, 2010, five people were arrested by the SDAT, the French state counter-terrorism service, and placed in custody in Paris, Marseilles and Vannes. The hearing of another suspect, Marie((At this stage of the investigation, we have decided not to reveal the names of suspects that have not already been made public. The first names have been modified.)), took place three days later. Some months earlier she had been stopped and charged with conspiracy in connection to a terrorist enterprise.

The operation directed against the Ansar al-Haqq forum arose from an earlier case related to so-called “Afghan channels” – flows of fighters into Afghanistan. The new investigation targeted “media jihad”, according to Nathalie Poux, a judge of the French High Court in Paris specialising in terrorism.

Under surveillance since June 2008

In April 2010, a major operation was launched against the forum moderators and administrators of Ansar al-Haqq. Two years earlier, in June 2008, the SDAT had begun monitoring a chat room on the instant messaging platform Paltalk. A site whose web address was displayed on the chat room was described as showing “clear support for Mujahideen who call for the Muslim community to support the fight against unbelievers”. That site was Ansar al-Haqq.

The site was accused of spreading jihadist ideology on the Internet, in accordance with the doctrine of media jihad developed by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the former Al-Qaida number two who became leader after the death of Osama bin Laden. Security services noted a signature that many users attached to their posts:

Media jihad is half the battle.

Among those users were Ali and Farouk Ben Abbes, some of the first administrators of the forum. A Belgian national, Farouk Ben Abbes was considered particularly active on the forum since June 2007, distributing press releases proclaiming attacks committed by groups and organisations close to Al-Qaida. He was detained in May 2009 in Egypt for his alleged involvement in a bombing in Cairo that killed a young French woman and wounded 24 people. Ali was also a moderator and administrator, but neither man appears to have been among the founders of the forum.

Ansar al-Haqq is described as the offshoot of a blog, Al-Firdaws, founded by Nicolas and Marie. The SDAT believe the former to be 20 and the latter only 16 years of age. Shut down for inciting racial hatred, Al-Firdaws became Ansar al-Haqq from December 2006 onwards. The forum is hosted in Malaysia.

A small management team is structured around the founders. Erwan and Julien act as moderators. Erwan was not unknown to security services, as his name appeared in relation to other cases. In 2010, at the time of his arrest, he was 37 years old. Julien is younger, 24, but his name has also been linked to previous cases, particularly in relation to Iraq.

The final member of the management team is Arnaud, 27, who had previously been detained by counter-terrorism services. He was accused of disseminating Al-Qaida propaganda on Ansar al-Haqq, and ensuring that all contributions to the site are in line with its professed beliefs.

Single case of “Media Jihad”

The case centres on the use of websites for disseminating propaganda. Last December, a researcher at the School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences in Paris, Dominique Thomas, described to OWNI a site aimed at a fairly cultivated French-speaking public:

Ansar al-Haqq want to get their message out there, to disseminate information and create a network of sympathisers. Complex texts, with references to medieval Islam, are translated by users.

The operational character of these online exchanges, emphasised by the SDAT, has not yet been assessed by judges. One suspect, Arnaud, has had his case dismissed. The prosecutor did not appeal, and he was released in late 2010.

Ali was not remanded in custody, but placed under court supervision after his indictment. Farouk Ben Abbes was also quickly released, during the summer of 2011.

A defence lawyer denounced the use of the offence – of criminal conspiracy in connection with a terrorist enterprise – to suppress debate, which is governed by media law and the Press Law of 1881.

Warning

On the Ansar al-Haqq forum, a warning was posted on October 8, 2010, a few months after the arrests. Under the evocative title “Look out for yourselves my brothers and sisters! Look out!“, the message referred to the case:

You’ve no doubt noticed and read in the news these days that there have been several arrests of brothers and sisters. One of those arrests involved current and former moderators as well as admins for Ansar al-Haqq. And yes several admins and moderators were arrested several months ago for questioning about an investigation called “Operation Ansar al-Haqq.” Yes, a judge has been appointed to investigate our site Ansar al-Haqq for what they call “jihadist propaganda on the Internet.”

Recommendations are then suggested to readers and commenters on the forum:

This investigation began over two years ago! In other words this means that agents of the DCRI have been coming to the forum regularly to watch us and read what you post for more than two years now!

Be careful what you write and don’t give DCRI agents the opportunity to come to your house to arrest you some fine morning.

On March 4 of this year, one user added details taken from the book about the DCRI l’Espion du Président (The President’s Spy), regarding the surveillance methods used by the French counter-espionage service.