Web Site Operator Banking On Virtual Confusion To Help Al Qaeda Plan Real Terror
By Jeremy Reynalds (07/09/04)
Using a confusing maze of false addresses and telephone numbers to avoid detection, a web site operator who apparently wants to make people believe he's based in Seattle and California is helping Al Qaeda get its message of terror out to millions
On Monday, a radical Islamic website (www.hostinganime.com/neda2/sout/tag13.jpg) published a statement purportedly from Al Qaeda threatening to attack Western aircraft and places frequented by Westerners in the Arabian peninsula.
Agence France Presse (AFP) provided a partial translation of the message.
"The (residential) compounds, the bases and the means of transportation of the Crusaders, especially Western and US airlines, will be the direct target of our next operations ... We reiterate our warning to our Muslim brothers against the presence of the Crusaders including Americans, Westerners and all other infidels in the Arab peninsula ... The Muslims should isolate them completely ... We renew our warning to the security services, to the guards at the housing complexes of the Crusaders and at the American bases and all others who are on the side of the Americans and against the mujahedeen and to their agents in the Saudi government."
Although a special agent from the Phoenix FBI recently told a reporter that agents feel the operator of the site(s) has been "used" by the terrorists, an individual who calls himself "Mike Smith" and is reportedly behind the sites has laid a thick trail of false information to make sure that he is not found.
According to its current Internet registration, the contact information for Hosting Anime is listed as 8939 S. Sepulveda Blvd. in Westchester, CA 90045. However, the building manager for that address said that Hosting Anime is not located at this address.
That is also the same location as the one used by www.namecheap.com, an Internet name registration service operated by Richard Kirkendall.
Reached by telephone last week, Kirkendall's mother Irma Hernandez said her son lives part of the year in France and could only be reached by e-mail, but she explained the location situation by saying that the Sepulveda address is a mail drop she rented for her son's business.
Additional investigation revealed that Hosting Anime is registered to "Mike Smith" supposedly of Seattle Washington. However, a phone number listed for Smith was for Seattle's Wharfside Pointe Apartments. The apartment manager said she didn't know anyone called Mike Smith.
During the last few months, Smith has also provided other addresses and contact telephone numbers for his registrant site contact (which in addition to Hosting Anime include among others www.darkfiles.net and www.onefreehost.com). A call to one Seattle number listed was answered by an woman who said she knew nothing about terror and was a very peaceful citizen.
However, an individual speaking on condition of anonymity who called a reporter soon after may have shed some light on the puzzle. He said his teenage son, who has been in trouble before, may have been somehow involved as the telephone number given was for the boy's grandmother and the address given was for his (the father's) home.
The source said, "I'm shocked for both me and my mother. I don't know what's going on. I really don't have any idea but my son plays around with computers a lot."
Due to personal reasons, the individual said he was initially unable to contact his son to find out for sure whether or not he was responsible. However, he later called a reporter and said he had been told indirectly that his son was cooperating with the FBI.
That could not be confirmed, as a call requesting information to an FBI special agent at the bureau's Phoenix office who is familiar with Hosting Anime was not immediately returned.
In addition to the threats of upcoming terrorism, the last two beheadings of innocent victims by Islamic militants have been shown on the free web site pages of www.hostinganime.com.
Citing free speech (and now backed up by a court victory in another case), the operators of Hosting Anime continue to make available at
www.hostinganime.com/iraqnews1/index.html
the gruesome beheading video and still pictures of 33-year-old South Korean translator Kim Sun-Il.
Hosting Anime also hosts a number of other terror related sites. They include:
www.hostinganime.com/gim/GIMfaroq.htm, www.hostinganime.com/neda2/page/new.htm,
www.hostinganime.com/neda3/sout/index.htm and www.hostinganime.com/meshawir/aljhad.html
Pictures of engineer Paul Johnson after he was beheaded are still prominently displayed on
www.hostinganime.com/neda3/sout/index.htm, and www.hostinganime.com/neda2/page/new.htm is a web site with the same design and graphics as an al Qaeda site formerly known as www.alneda.com.
Commenting on the company's apparent hosting of these sites, a Hosting Anime company official commented on a company forum site; http://forums.hostinganime.com/viewtopic.php?t=176 In that forum, Hosting Anime was asked on June 18, "Did you know your services are being used as the official web page for the group that beheaded the American in Saudi? I would hope your company is smart to remove this site from your database."
A Hosting Anime official initially thanked the individual for bringing fact that to his attention.
However, when the site remained on line, another letter was written to Hosting Anime, (sic) "This is ... pathetic. Delete it already. Block the freaking IP address. QUIT ALLOWING TERRORIST WEBSITES TO BE HOSTED ON YOUR SYSTEM FOR DAYS BEFORE YOU GET RID OF THEM. Block this IP, find all other ones, block them. You are American? Quit letting them spread their message unless you agree with what they do."
He received a shocking response (http://forums.hostinganime.com/viewtopic.php?t=176) from Hosting Anime.
"We will look into this manner when we have time, this is a free hosting company, and there are no profits being made, so that we can afford to sit and review all emails/abuse reports as this takes a large amount of time. Please give us time to get that done, in the mean time, please take the first amendment into consideration, free speech, just because you don't like the content of a site does that mean it should be shutdown?
"An email sent to me this morning I think is worth posting on the subject:
"‘Hey, screw those people that didn't like the site. They didn't have to go there to begin with, and whoever accused you of supporting terrorism has totally lost it. What about us who want to know why these people think the way they do and act the way they do ??? It's about communicating and I think it SUCKS that you cave to a few that would rather just throw a blanket over their head's and hope when they lift it off themselves, everything will be just fine. It makes me SICK !!'
"As stated, we will take a look into this site and see what can be done in good time."
In response to a further complaint, the Hosting Anime System Administrator wrote, (http://forums.hostinganime.com/viewtopic.php?t=176),
"Thank you for your additional comments on this matter, nothing can be done at this time, we will review the site and decide what is best.
"If you have looked at some of our users web pages, you will see that there are no banners/pop ups on our users pages, that means no income. If you don't want me to use that excuse, what excuse would you like to hear? It's either I lie to you or tell you the truth, I have told you the truth, if you don't accept that, feel free to imagine whatever you would like."
Hosting Anime appears to host its terror sites by renting space on the servers of the Houston based Everyone's Internet, which has hosted sites in the past for groups such as the Hamas.
Everyone's Internet did not return a number of e-mails seeking comment but did generate an automated response which read in part, "We have received your report of possible abuse of our network resources. The current number of notifications that require investigations limits the number of personal responses from the staff to senders and this might be the only response you receive regarding your notification; however, we do investigate each report."
In addition, when asked if EV1 administration would respond to an e-mail seeking answers about the company's continued relationship with Hosting Anime, a receptionist said, "If they're interested they will contact you. All we say is that they're unavailable and we can take a message."
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