Malika El Aroud
Encyclopedia
Malika El Aroud (b. 1959/1960 in Tangier, Morocco) is a Moroccan
-born Belgian Muslim activist known for her Islamist writings on the internet.
Her first husband, Dahmane Abd al-Sattar, a.k.a. Abdessatar Dahmane is one of the men who killed Mujahedin resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud two days before the September 11, 2001 attacks
. In 2003 she was one of 22 people tried in Belgium for complicity in Massoud's murder, but there was insufficient evidence to convict her. In June 2007 she and her second husband Moez Garsalloui were found guilty by a Swiss court of supporting radical Islamist organizations via internet sites.
El Aroud has been called a danger by a European terrorism
expert because her high profile advocacy has made her a role model and a source of inspiration to female jihadists.
, she admitted in 2008 that she was devoted to Osama bin Laden
.
In February 2005 she was detained along with her Tunisian-born second husband Moez Garsalloui in an anti-terror raid. She was accused of operating a jihadist website which incited others to criminal acts and racial violence. While living in Switzerland
(near Fribourg
), she and her husband were charged with setting up websites to promote racially motivated crimes. The New York Times reports that, as part of first Internet-related criminal case, she was tried in found guilty by a Swiss court in June 2007 of promoting violence and supporting a criminal organization, and was given a six-month suspended sentence.
According to journalists Elaine Sciolino
and Souad Mekhennet
, "writing in French under the name `Oum Obeyda,` [El Aroud] has transformed herself into one of the most prominent Internet jihadists in Europe," by bullying "Muslim men to go and fight" and rallying "women to join the cause." In an interview she told the journalists: “I have a weapon. It’s to write. It’s to speak out. That’s my jihad. You can do many things with words. Writing is also a bomb.”
She is quoted as telling Western audiences: “Vietnam
is nothing compared to what awaits you on our lands ... Ask your mothers, your wives to order your coffins.” And telling her followers: “Victory is appearing on the horizon my brothers and sisters. Let’s intensify our prayers.”
On December 11, 2008, she was arrested by the Belgian police with a group of people suspected of terrorist links.
In February 2009, CNN presented an interview with El Aroud, as well as various people familiar with her activities or involved with her court proceedings, as part of CNNs regular program, "World's Untold Stories".
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
-born Belgian Muslim activist known for her Islamist writings on the internet.
Her first husband, Dahmane Abd al-Sattar, a.k.a. Abdessatar Dahmane is one of the men who killed Mujahedin resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud two days before the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
. In 2003 she was one of 22 people tried in Belgium for complicity in Massoud's murder, but there was insufficient evidence to convict her. In June 2007 she and her second husband Moez Garsalloui were found guilty by a Swiss court of supporting radical Islamist organizations via internet sites.
El Aroud has been called a danger by a European terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
expert because her high profile advocacy has made her a role model and a source of inspiration to female jihadists.
Activism
The New York Times says she is a prominent advocate of jihad on the Internet, and has called herself a female holy warrior for Al Qaeda. She is the widow of Dahmane Abd al-Sattar, a.k.a. Abdessatar Dahmane, one of the men who killed anti-Taliban leader Ahmad Shah Massoud two days before the September 11, 2001 attacks. According to CNNCNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, she admitted in 2008 that she was devoted to Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
.
In February 2005 she was detained along with her Tunisian-born second husband Moez Garsalloui in an anti-terror raid. She was accused of operating a jihadist website which incited others to criminal acts and racial violence. While living in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
(near Fribourg
Fribourg
Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...
), she and her husband were charged with setting up websites to promote racially motivated crimes. The New York Times reports that, as part of first Internet-related criminal case, she was tried in found guilty by a Swiss court in June 2007 of promoting violence and supporting a criminal organization, and was given a six-month suspended sentence.
According to journalists Elaine Sciolino
Elaine Sciolino
Elaine Sciolino is a Paris correspondent and former Paris bureau chief for The New York Times, writing from France since 2002.-Biography:...
and Souad Mekhennet
Souad Mekhennet
Souad Mekhennet is a german journalist of Turkish–Moroccan descent who works for The New York Times, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and German television ZDF.Before working for The Times, she was a reporter for The Washington Post...
, "writing in French under the name `Oum Obeyda,` [El Aroud] has transformed herself into one of the most prominent Internet jihadists in Europe," by bullying "Muslim men to go and fight" and rallying "women to join the cause." In an interview she told the journalists: “I have a weapon. It’s to write. It’s to speak out. That’s my jihad. You can do many things with words. Writing is also a bomb.”
She is quoted as telling Western audiences: “Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
is nothing compared to what awaits you on our lands ... Ask your mothers, your wives to order your coffins.” And telling her followers: “Victory is appearing on the horizon my brothers and sisters. Let’s intensify our prayers.”
On December 11, 2008, she was arrested by the Belgian police with a group of people suspected of terrorist links.
In February 2009, CNN presented an interview with El Aroud, as well as various people familiar with her activities or involved with her court proceedings, as part of CNNs regular program, "World's Untold Stories".