Abd-al-Rahman al-Rashid, webmaster of "Jihad-on-Line," voice of Usama Bin Ladin on the Internet, which US intelligence hacked over a year ago after transmitting a special interview with Al-Qa'ida leader, said that he is currently under house arrest in one of the Gulf states. In an interview with Al-Sharq al-Awsat over the Internet, Al-Rashid said that he was arrested in one of the Gulf states for four months and that he is now being interrogated on how he obtained the information, which speaks in the name of Al-Qa'ida. Al-Rashid described the prison as a cave in Tora Bora, where Bin Ladin and Al-Qa'ida leaders were besieged before escaping to the border strip.
Al-Rashid said: "I was placed underground during the interrogation period." He added that he was also banned from carrying out any information activity in the name of Al-Qa'ida and warned by the Gulf investigation quarters that he would be shipped to Guantanamo, where Al-Qa'ida and Taleban prisoners are being held, if he released any information in the name of Al-Qa'ida. He indicated that his website, which carried the slogan: "A cry of right in time of falsehood" is now something of the past, which he does not want to mention anymore.
Al-Rashid explained that the intelligence organs obtained a great deal of information on jihadists from his computer after his arrest. He said that Gulf security organs followed him closely before his arrest, because they stormed his house just a few hours after his departure for a trip abroad. "They knew everything about me," he said. He also indicated that he was not arrested in an Asian or European country, as rumored in the Gulf press, but before leaving his country. He said that his passport was also seized "at the behest of US intelligence."
Al-Rashid said: "I am now in a big prison, but thank God within the borders of my country." However, he indicated that the security organs are watching him very closely. Al-Rashid warned Islamists of the fundamentalist, jihadist forums that replaced his website. He said that they are plagued with "hypocrites and pins," meaning intelligence organs. Replying to a question by Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Al-Rashid said that he currently spends his free time reading and memorizing the Holy Koran. He criticized some jihadist sources close to Al-Qa'ida, saying he "feels bitter" when he sees them tampering with the reports by adding many touches to them.
(Description of Source: London Al-Sharq al-Awsat (Internet Version-WWW) in Arabic — Influential Saudi-owned London daily providing independent coverage of Arab and international issues; editorials reflect official Saudi views on foreign policy)
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