Bin Laden's mouse

Abu Maysara — Bin Laden's mouse?
PV Vivekanand


The man who posts video-clippings of beheading of hostages in Iraq and statements attributed to Abu Musab Al Zarqawi calls himself Abu Maysara Al Iraqi, or father of Maysara the Iraqi. But no one knows who he actually is and US and Western intelligence agencies and cyber experts have been unable to pin him down because he constantly switches he on-line accounts and uses new and advanced technologies to post the video clippings and messages in the Internet.
It is a deadly game being played out in cyberspace.
Abu Maysara often appears on chatrooms of Islamic websites, but he does not respond to questions about himself or about the group he represents. He posts message containing the URLs of specially created websties carrying the Zarqawi group's claims of attacks on American soldiers and their allies.
Those chasing him in order to silence him do not know whether the name is real, it is a he or a she or whether he/she is an Iraqi or is in Iraq.
Abu Maysara is the most important source of news and militant statements on the guerrilla war in Iraq as well as images of executions of hostages that reach millions of people.
Silencing him has become a priority for the US since he is hampering American efforts to pacify Iraq; his work terrifies people into staying away from co-operating with the US and also incite "jihadist" anti-American hostilities around the world. Above all, his images and messages highlight that the US has failed in Iraq and is losing the guerrilla war there.
According to counterterrorism consultant, Evan F. Kohlmannm it is extremely frustrating not to be able catch Abu Maysara, who is able to send out quality videos to millions of people uncensored.
Abu Maysara said in a Sept. 19 posting on the Internet that he issues his reports so that his perspective "does not become lost in the media blackout that America imposes in order to deceive its people and its allies."
American law enforcement agencies have been closing down websites carrying Abu Maysara's messages but it has become a cat-and-mouse game.
It is difficult to trace his messages and postings from the very beginning since he used highly advance technology that enables him to access a computer in another country but passing through several other countries and leaving no traceable trail.
In recent times, Abu Maysara has acquired a software called "YouSendIt" that allows senders to create multiple links to a large file so it can be viewed by an unlimited number of people.
Users type in their e-mail addresses, upload the file and YouSendIt creates a free, anonymous Web page for them, according to the Washington Post. To distribute videos of American hostages who were kidnapped last month, Abu Maysara created dozens of links using YouSendIt and sent them to chat rooms all over the Internet, said the paper.
The Washington Post quoted experts who have been trying to trace him as saying that Abu Maysara compressed the files, or made them as small as possible so that they could be copied more quickly. By the time American monitors got word of the videos, they had been anonymously copied from computer to computer so fast, making it impossible to locate, much less destroy, all the copies of the video.
YouSendIt was developed by Canadian programmers but they are unable to check Abu Maysara's use of the software.
They say that they created the programme to help families trade pictures and videos and to help colleagues at work share files. They said they were surprised and saddened to hear that the technology was being used to spread violent messages.
Abu Maysara first surfaced in January in the Muntada Al Ansar and Islah chat rooms, where he confirmed Zarqawi's presence in Iraq and took credit for several attacks on US and other coalition troops. Since then, he has hopped from computer to computer, keeping many steps ahead of American cyberspace experts chasing him.
The messages from Abu Maysara are always in Arabic beginning with a standard greeting such as, "In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful." The heart of the message is written in flowery language, recounting an attack. Abu Maysara writes in half-sentences and mixes the details of an incident with religious invocations.
That Abu Maysara was indeed the man behind the website postings was confirmed when some chatters in the chatroom suggested that the Zarqawi group make Kenneth Bigley, the 62-year-old British citizen who had been kidnapped, beg for his life to the "tyrant."
A few days later, a video clip appeared on the website of Bigley pleading to British Prime Minister Tony Blair to save him.