Congrats to the intrepid Robert Spencer, whose new book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), hit the NYTimes best-seller list at #17 this week. It’s an important guide from a brave man. Also make Spencer’s Jihad Watch daily reading if you haven’t already.

Speaking of jihad, there are a lot of new developments in the case of the homegrown Islamists in L.A.

Greg Ransom has been tracking the investigation. AP reports:

LOS ANGELES — A militant Islamic prison gang may have been behind an alleged plot to attack synagogues and National Guard installations on Jewish holidays or the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, investigators said.

The group _ known as Jamat Ul-Islam Is Saheeh, or JIS _ is headed by an inmate at the California State Prison, Sacramento, law enforcement officials said. It has existed for about five years and is one of at least three Islamist groups operating in state prisons, officials said.

Hammad Riaz Samana, a member of the mosque, was arrested Aug. 2 and is being held in Los Angeles, but federal officials have refused to say what charges he might face. Samana’s arrest developed from a terrorism investigation in which authorities found what they believe was a target list after arresting two men on suspicion of a series of gas station robberies in Los Angeles County. That list included three National Guard facilities, the Israeli Consulate and several synagogues.

Federal and local investigators are examining possible ties between members of the group and Hammad Riaz Samana, a 21-year-old college student and Pakistani national who was arrested Aug. 2 in Los Angeles, George Gascon, assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, said Wednesday.

Keep an eye on this one.

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