September 25, 2009
Today's "Islamic terrorism has nothing to do with Islam" report (9/25/09)
Today's report comes to us from Sydney, Australia, where a Lebanese man was sentenced to 12 years for writing a book on jihad and martyrdom that he claimed was merely "religious journalism".
From the Australian Associated Press.
The editor of a do-it-yourself terrorism book that advocated "widespread and indiscriminate loss of life" has been handed a hefty sentence by a Sydney court.Former Qantas cabin cleaner Belal Saadallah Khazaal has been jailed for a maximum of 12 years, with a non-parole period of nine years, for making a document connected with assistance in a terrorist act and knowing about that connection.
The 110-page book compiled between September 20 and 23, 2003, entitled Provisions Of The Rules of Jihad and published online in Arabic, was a "practical guide to achieving martyrdom".
It contained advice about terrorist acts such as exploding bombs, shooting down planes and assassinating people such as former US president George W Bush.
"It advocated widespread and indiscriminate loss of life, serious injury and serious property damage within the countries identified as enemies of Islam," Justice Megan Latham said in sentencing the man in the NSW Supreme Court.
Dual Australian and Lebanese national Khazaal, 39, has never denied compiling the book from online material but said it was never intended to incite terrorist acts.
He told prison officers that the material was "strictly religious journalism".
That is all.
