In two articles, "Converts to Terrorism" and "More Converts to Terrorism" I listed new Muslims connected to terrorist operations, but of course my list was incomplete. Here are additional cases, either as they come to my attention or as they occur. Unless otherwise indicated, they concern the United States. (December 7, 2005)
Violence or conviction:
- United States: A group of Hanafi Muslim converts seized the B'nai B'rith headquarters and two other buildings in Washington, D.C. in 1977.
- Abu Malik, implicated in the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa, associated with Al-Qaeda in its Sudan period in the mid-1990s.
- United States: Randall Blue Chapman (65 years in prison) and Allen Walter Lyon, a.k.a. Hammad Abdur-Raheem (52 months) for their roles in the Virginia paintball jihad network.
- France: Christopher Caze, a medical student who joined the jihad in Bosnia. According to the Washington Post, Caze was a "charismatic but deeply violent man" who made an impression in Bosnia "by playing soccer with the severed heads of Serbs killed in battle." Back in France, he led the "Gang de Roubaix," a criminal group connected to the Algeria GIA that robbed armored cars and attempted to car-bomb a G-7 summit in Lille, France, in March 1996. Caze was killed the next day in Lille as a tried to ram a police roadblock.
- Netherlands: Today's news: an unnamed 29-year-old male convert to Islam was sentenced to twelve months in prison, six of them suspended, and 240 hours of community service for stealing ammunition and explosives from army units in training at the Oirschotse Heide army basis. A search of his home in Oss turned up a large quantity of military items, including 45 training grenades, and a homemade nail-filled bomb found on his balcony. Preposterously, the prosecutor decided he did not intend to carry out an attack, so he was not prosecuted on terrorism charges; nonetheless, I include him in the list of convicted terrorists. Seeing that he'll be out of jail in six months, there will be plenty of chance to find out what his intentions were.
- Bosnia: William J. Kole of the Associated Press has a major piece on the recruitment of Bosnians to radical Islamic terrorism/ (April 17, 2006)
- Philippines: The International Crisis Group has published a 25-page study, Philippines Terrorism: The Role of Militant Islamic Converts. It finds (p. 22) that "The Philippines' small minority of terrorist converts resembles the threat of "home-grown" terrorism looming in developed countries since the 7 July London bombings. Like second-generation Muslims in Western Europe or Australia, converts move inconspicuously through their own urban landscapes but may also experience a deep sense of difference. This paradoxical combination can make them ideal recruits for foreign jihadis. The crucial difference in the Philippines is that this new threat is embedded in a civil war, and militant converts possess powerful domestic as well as regional and global allies." (Dec. 19, 2005)
- Bosnia: William J. Kole of the Associated Press has a major piece on the recruitment of Bosnians to radical Islamic terrorism/ (April 17, 2006)
- United Kingdom: Dhiren Barot pleased guilty in October 2006 to a major trans-Atlantic terrorism plot. (Oct. 16, 2006)
Only suspected, arrested, or indicted:
- United States: Rabih Haddad, a Lebanese immigrant arrested on suspicions of terrorism but deported on immigration charges.
- Belgium: Pascal Cruypeninck, 33, convinced his fiancée, a Rwandan refugee, to convert and tried to get her to go to Iraq on a suicide mission. (Dec. 17, 2005)
- India: Dhiren Barot, born a Hindu, converted to Islam at age 20, became a British citizen. Accused of leading a 2004 scheme to attack financial targets in New York and Washington with weapons of mass destruction. Known also as Abu Musa al-Hindi. A Pakistan jihadi who wrote a book about his experiences, The Army of Madinah in Kashmir.
- Netherlands: Jermaine Walters, younger brother of Jason Walters (whom I have already cited as a convert to terror; for more on him and the brothers' relationship, see Emerson Vermaat's analysis at "Jason Walters - From Muslim convert to Jihadist"), arrested along with six others in a terrorism probe.
- Netherlands: A former policewoman known only as Martine van den O. was arrested due to her connection to the Hofstad group; she wrote a farewell note indicating her intent to carry out a suicide attack.
- Netherlands: A 17-year-old male convert from the town of Almere and known publicly as Maik R.sent threatening letters to prominent Dutch critics of Islam, idealized the murderer of Theo van Gogh, and hid an improvised explosive device in his parents' home. An Amsterdam court placed him in a juvenile pyschiatric hospital.
- Philippines: "Pio de Vera, the alleged leader of a radical group of Christian converts to Islam, was captured Dec. 15. … He had helped plan attacks in Manila, scouting for targets in the financial district of Makati and places popular with foreign tourists." (Dec. 21, 2005) Oct. 2, 2006 update: That group of converts, called Rajah Solaiman, is, according to Manila's top anti-terrorism official, Ricardo Blancaflor, highly educated, well-financed, and easily evading detection.
- United Kingdom: Three of the 24 Muslims arrested for planning a massive campaign to destroy up to ten airplanes over the Atlantic are converts: Oliver Savant, son of an English mother and Iranian father who converted to Islam a few years ago, changing his name to Ibrahim Savant; Don Stewart-Whyte, 21, a recent convert who had changed his name to Abdul Waheed Stewart-Whyte; Brian Young, 28, of West Indian background, who changed his name to Umar Islam when he converted two-three years ago. (August 11, 2006)
- Russia: Victor Yasmann, "Russia: Slavic Converts To Radical Islam Pose New Threat," reports that "Russian investigators probing terrorism cases in the North Caucasus have noted a growing number of ethnic Slavs among the perpetrators of such acts." (August 25, 2006)
- Russia: Andre Vladimirovich Bataloff, 27, went to Afghanistan intending to carry out a suicide bombing. (October 30, 2007)
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United States: Colleen R. LaRose, 46, a convert from the Philadelphia area who went by JihadJane, was arrested for taking part in a plot to kill the Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks. (March 10, 2010)
Jihadis:
- N/A.
I should also mention here my 2000 article, "In Muslim America: A Presence and a Challenge[ – The Anti-Americanism of U.S. Converts to Islam]," which explores the hostile political attitudes that can serve as a precursor to terrorism.
