
Younes Tsouli, Tariq al-Daour and Waseem Mughal – all students who lived at home with their parents – were found guilty of promoting holy war through online forums and websites.
One post contained a discussion about a plot – with striking similarities to the recent thwarted attacks in London and Glasgow - by doctors using a car bomb at a naval base in the US.
Tsouli, the alleged ringleader, hacked into unprotected web servers to post large files and videos – including the beheadings of Western hostages and other jihad material – using file transfer protocol (FTP).
The 23-year-old was also responsible for setting up online chat forums where al-Qaeda supporters could download manuals on explosives and weapons.
The men were sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court in London yesterday and must serve a total of 24 years in prison. Passing sentence Mr Justice Openshaw said that the men had engaged in “cyber-jihad” and encouraged others to kill non-Muslims.
However, he said that none of the men had come near to carrying out a terrorist attack themselves. He said: “He [Tsouli] came no closer to a bomb or a firearm than a computer keyboard.”