The former regional mufti of Sofia is among four people arrested on charges of running websites in Bulgaria allegedly promoting the overthrow of the state, holy war against non-Muslims and the imposition of Sharia law.

Law enforcement officials are investigating alleged links between the group and other radical Muslim organisations in Western Europe and Arab states.

Also under investigation is a suspicion that the group, of two men and two women - the latter said to be recent converts to Islam, received funding from foreign sources. Of the four, three remained in custody and one was out on bail.

An Interior Ministry statement on February 20 said that the chief directorate for combating organised crime, the National Investigation Service and the National Security Service had shut down two internet sites, set up a month before, which allegedly had been promoting extreme radical Islamism, religious hatred and a rewrite of Bulgaria's constitution.

The head of the chief directorate against organised crime, Yavor Kolev, told Kuwait news agency KUNA that those arrested had admitted to having been in contact with a Jordanian, Ahmad Mohammad Moussa, who had been expelled from Bulgaria seven years ago. Kolev said that two sites had been used to "support Islamic terrorist activities".

The websites allegedly included a call to "turn every chimney in Bulgaria into a mosque", and to conduct a Jihad - a holy war - against non-Muslims in Bulgaria. It called for worldwide support in the form of money and weapons to conduct the Jihad. The sites allegedly supported Wahabi, the radical interpretation of Islam favoured by groups such as Al-Qaeda.

The sites had Bulgarian domains and were in the Bulgarian language. Computers found at offices in Sofia and Blagoevgrad have been confiscated and are being examined by computer forensic specialists.

Bulgarian news agency BTA reported that Chavdar Angelov of the Sofia City Prosecution Office said that if found guilty, the accused could face a maximum of three years in prison and a fine of 300 leva, which he said was too light a punishment.

The Interior Ministry said that those arrested were Bulgarian nationals, aged between 27 and 52 years. They had studied in countries in the East as well as the West.

The ministry said that foundations to which the site provided links were related to people who had been expelled from Bulgaria as risks to national security. Among them was Moussa.

Media reports on February 21 identified former Sofia regional mufti Ali Haireddin as the alleged mastermind of the group. Bulgarian National Television quoted a spokesperson for the Chief Mufti's office as doubting that Haireddin would be involved in promoting radical interpretations of Islam. A full statement would be issued later, the Chief Mufti's office said.

Of Bulgaria's population of about 7.7 million, about 800 000 people are Muslims, the vast majority of whom adhere to mainstream Islam and reject radical varieties.

Coincidentally, on February 21 the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) released an analysis by its Jihad and Terrorism Studies Project saying that "alongside military jihad on various battlefields, Islamist organisations are engaged in another type of warfare: jihad on the media front".

"The media platform favored by the Islamist organizations is the internet, which they prefer for several reasons: firstly, for the anonymity it allows - anyone can enter and post to a site without divulging personal information; secondly, due to the medium's availability and low cost - all that is required is a PC and an internet connection; and thirdly, due to the ability to distribute material to a great number of people over a wide geographic area in a matter of seconds," MEMRI said.

Islamist websites operate out of various countries, both Muslim and non-Muslim, and their target audience includes countries and communities all over the world. The websites address their audiences in various languages. Such sites tend to be transitory and impermanent - new sites appear and others close down or are shut down on a daily basis.

The MEMRI article said that Islamist organisations used the services of Western internet companies and exploited Western freedom of speech in spreading their message. Most Islamist websites were hosted by servers in the West, and some were even registered there.