"In the name of Allah the Merciful... how do I build electrical circuits?"

Terrorism: New jihadist message calls for bomb-making aid

Rome, 24 June (AKI) - By Hamza Boccolini - A new message posted on a prominent al-Qaeda linked website calls on Islamic militants to lend their bomb-making expertise to the jihadist cause.

The message, entitled 'Metal conductors and the mixing of volatile liquids' was posted in Italian to the Ekhlas website by 'Fatah Roma' (the Conquest of Rome). Ekhlas has recently created pages in English, French, Italian and Turkish. It is the first jihadist website to have an Italian section.

"In the name of Allah the Merciful, I write to all my Muslim brothers, those who have experience of have studied or worked as engineers, industrial chemists, those who can help me find on the Internet materials to build electrical circuits," the message states.

But 'Fatah Roma' is concerned to prevent any homemade device exploding and killing the bomb-maker as it is being built. "The most important thing is the choice of metal conductors, mixing the volatile liquids, and procedures to make bomb-making safe," the message said.

It has not been possible to authenticate the message. The increasing appearance of jihadist Internet messages in Italian, however raises fears that Italy could be an al-Qaeda target. As recently as last week, Ekhlas published a message containing death threats against Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Italian journalist and Christian convert, Magdi Allam. That message was posted by a new user of Ekhlas, with the nickname 'Muhaijir Allah Sadaa Ahlahu' (meaning emigrant of Allah who has said goodbye to his people). 'Muhaijir Allah Sadaa Ahlahu' has a much better command of written Italian than 'Fatah Roma', suggesting he or she may be a second-generation immigrant.

'Fatah Roma' could be a first-generation immigrant. He or she is one of the most prolific contributors to Ekhlas. The website has not yet been disabled by the Italian authorities. Italian postal police in February closed down four Islamist blogs that were publishing messages from al-Qaeda's leadership and were hosted by the Italian server Splinder. The most prominent of these blogs was run from Senegal by radical Muslim cleric Abdul Qadir Fadlallah Mamour. The former imam of the northern Italian city of Carmagnola, Mamour was deported from Italy for alleged al-Qaeda links. Another of the blogs was run by Mamour's wife, Barbara Farina.

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