And while Russia ups the pressure on NATO.....their functional allies...

Aabid Khan and his global jihad

By Steve Swann BBC News Home Affairs unit

Aabid Khan's conviction marks the latest chapter in a series of raids and arrests across three continents. Four trials have already led to convictions in three countries - and the investigations continue.

Armed police closed in on an apartment on a rutted road in a village on the edge of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

As they burst in, they subdued a group of men they had been observing. One of the group had an armed "suicide belt" of explosives.

These arrests in March 2005 were a major breakthrough in an investigation that would reveal how international jihadists were operating through the internet - from North America and Europe through to South Asia.

The searches in Bosnia uncovered a so-called "martyrdom" video explaining in English how the men were fighting on behalf of oppressed Muslims around the world.

Materials included the mobile phone belonging to the ringleader, who had traveled from Scandinavia hoping to carry out attacks on NATO targets.

But just as importantly, detectives established the phone had been in contact with a number registered to an address in the UK.

When officers from the Metropolitan Police kicked in the door of a modest flat in west London, they had no idea they were about to arrest one of the then most significant figures among a growing network of cyber-terrorists.

The occupant was a young Moroccan, Younes Tsouli, who had used the internet to build links to al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq and a wider network around the world.

Robert Mueller, the Director of the FBI has described Tsouli as an example of how "the web is terrorism's new frontier, offering both persuasive information, but also practical instruction".

Tsouli's encrypted hard drive was a treasure trove of evidence which led detectives to other suspected extremists across the world.

These men had been using password-protected internet forums to exchange views on jihad - but they did not realise they had also left themselves exposed to infiltration by intelligence officers.

Meanwhile, in North America, police and spies began watching another group they linked to this online network. Like Tsouli and Khan, many of them were very young.

The targets they are alleged to have discussed attacking - the global positioning system and the Canadian Parliament - often seemed fanciful.

Khan allegedly talked online to some of them about setting up a mini-Sharia state in a remote part of Scotland.

Nevertheless, his naivety was combined with a deadly seriousness and burgeoning connections to militant groups in Asia.

People who are too stupid to realize what is 'impossible' can sometimes achieve remarkable results.

When detectives said they needed to swab his hands as he was suspected of handling explosives, he started to shake violently.

"I've been handling fireworks in Pakistan," he said.

And I'm your mommy. 50 to life, no parole and to be forgotten in a high security solitary prison. Each and every single one convicted.