Net-savvy US man appears to be Al-Qaeda magazine editor: Experts

WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence analysts believe that a 24-year-old North Carolina man, who left for Yemen last October, may be the editor-in-chief of a newly launched Al-Qaeda online magazine.

According to the experts, Samir Khan appears to be the editor-in-chief of Inspire, which features bomb-making instructions and an article by Usama bin Laden.

The magazine also seeks to recruit members of Al-Qaeda for its Yemeni branch -linked to the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound U.S. flight last Christmas.

The analysts claim that Khan represents a new generation of computer-savvy radical whose online tactics have become increasingly influential in promoting acts of terrorism within the U.S.

“Khan’s capabilities of publishing things fairly quickly and his web savviness elevates him in Al Qaeda’s PR media arm,” Fox News quoted David Draper, director of strategic operations for NEFA, a U.S. terror-watch group.

“The launch of this English magazine is extraordinarily important,” he added.

Khan first gained attention in 2007 when intelligence officials began monitoring his militant Islamic blog, “Inshallahshaheed” (A martyr soon if God wills).

Citing free speech laws, U.S. officials never charged him with a crime, arguing that Khan’s website never crossed the line from inflammatory rhetoric to violence.

Draper and other terrorism analysts claim that Khan’s new role with the Al-Qaeda website gives U.S. officials ample evidence to charge him with aiding a terrorist organization.

“You do not have the right to aid and abet a terrorist organization in the United States,” said Neil Livingstone, chairman ExecutiveAction LLC.

“You can agree with Al-Qaeda’s ends and means, but the moment that you start recruiting or sending messages, you’ve run afoul of the law,” he added. (ANI)