Al Qaeda taps cell phone downloads
Monday, January 7, 2008 at 15:58 From: CNN
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Al Qaeda video messages of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri can now be downloaded to cell phones, the terror network announced as part of its attempts to extend its influence.
The announcement was posted late Friday by al Qaeda's media wing, al-Sahab, on Web sites commonly used by Islamic militants. As of Saturday, eight previously recorded videos were made available including a recent tribute to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former al Qaeda in Iraq leader killed by U.S. forces in Iraq in June 2006.
"The elite jihadi media group presents the first batch of al-Sahab videos to be downloaded to cell phones," the announcement said.
Ben Venzke, the head of IntelCenter, a U.S. group that monitors and analyzes militant messages, said it was not the first time al-Sahab has released videos designed for cell phones.
He said the group has been releasing them for years, but that between September and December, a few video messages did not come with versions for cell phones.
"They might just be filling in some of the gaps, or just trying to release some that had come out before," Venzke said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
In a written message introducing the new cell phone videos, al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's No. 2 figure, asked followers to spread the terror group's messages.
"I asked God for the men of jihadi media to spread the message of Islam and monotheism to the world and spread real awareness to the people of the nations," al-Zawahiri said.
Videos playable on cell phones are increasingly popular in the Middle East. The files are transferred from phone to phone using Bluetooth or infrared wireless technology.
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