A London computer expert acquired worldwide notoriety on the internet as an al-Qaeda propagandist called “Irhabi 007”, a court was told yesterday.

Younis Tsouli allegedly used his web identity – which translates from Arabic as “Terrorist 007” – to spread extremist material around the world.

One of the many websites he set up, irhabi.007.ca, received 14,244 hits in August 2005 from users in Saudi Arabia, France, Belgium, Sweden, Israel, Canada, Britain, Mexico and other countries.

Mr Tsouli, 23, also stored media articles about the international hunt for Irhabi007. One article described him as an al-Qaeda “cyber ghost” and another as the “hacker extra-ordinaire” who defied attempts to close down his network of jihadi websites. His use of “007” in his pseudonym earnt him the nickname “Bond” among some of the users of his websites, which were allegedly financed by credit card fraud.

The court was told that he and his codefendants Waseem Mughal, 24, and Tariq al-Daour, 21, had close links to al-Qaeda in Iraq and posted videos of its attacks on coalition forces and the beheading of Western hostages.

The jury at Woolwich Crown Court was told that Mr Tsouli boasted online to associates about being the terrorists’ “favourite files-uploader online” and that “AQ in Iraq” had asked him to organise translation of their electronic magazine.Mark Ellison, for the prosecution, said that in one online exchange with Mr Mughal, Mr Tsouli said that he wanted to join the fighting in Iraq. “It sucks that we are here and not there,” he wrote. “But I suppose someone has to be here.”

But Mr Mughal urged him to continue with his “media work”. He wrote: “A lot of the funding that the brothers are getting is coming because of the videos. Imagine how many have gone after seeing the videos. Imagine how many have become shahid [martyrs].”

On the day before the suicide attacks in London on July 7 2005, Mr Tsouli allegedly wrote: “The only thing that would stop me from joining the brothers is to attack the bastards here in London. The sooner the better.” After the attacks he wrote to an associate: “Brother I am very happy. From the moment the infidels cry, I laugh. Unfortunately most Muslims are not adherent. They don’t understand the attacks must be more profitable in a way that they don’t play into the hands of the infidels.

“The attacks are soft. It is difficult to sell it to the general public. I seriously think there are certain individuals that should be assassinated, striking at precise targets. That’s what I would like to see.”

The three men were arrested in October 2005 as a result of intelligence gathered from the arrest of two terrorist suspects in Bosnia. A video was found showing one of the men in Bosnia, Bektasevic Mirshad, posing with explosives and weapons saying: “We are Muslims. The Lions are coming. We are ready to attack.”

It is alleged that Mr Tsouli and Mr Mughal had the mobile phone number used by Mirshad and had also chatted to him online. Mr Tsouli, a Moroccan living in Shepherd’s Bush, West London, Mr Mughal, from Chatham, Kent, and Mr al-Daour, from Bayswater, West London, deny charges of possessing items and documents of use to terrorists and of inciting terrorism overseas. Mr Tsouli and Mr Mughal also deny a charge of conspiracy to murder linked to the arrests in Bosnia. The trial continues.

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