Militant video game film just a bit of fun, says creator

THE Dutch creator of a video game-based film, which the US government says is being used as a recruitment tool by Muslim militants, says that his home-made creation was a bit of fun.

The 11-minute video shows a man in Arab head-dress carrying an automatic weapon into combat with US invaders. It was shown to a US congressional committee as evidence of a militant campaign to recruit Muslim youth on the internet.

"It was just for fun, nothing political," said Samir, a 25-year-old Dutch computer gamer. "It has nothing to do with recruiting people or training people."

Samir, who did not want to be identified by his full name, is a Muslim who was born and raised in the Netherlands and is a fan of US films and rap music.

His short film is based on a popular video game, Battlefield 2, which usually shows US troops engaging Chinese or Middle Eastern forces.

Samir borrowed part of the soundtrack from a satirical film, Team America: World Police, including the words: "As quickly as they had come, the infidels were gone. It was on that day I put a jihad on them."

He also added a soundbite from president George Bush, days after the 11 September attacks in 2001, in which he described the war on terrorism as a "crusade". The phrase gravely offended many Muslims, who took it to mean Mr Bush was calling for a war against Islam.

At the 4 May congressional presentation, lawmakers were told the video had been posted on militant websites designed to encourage youngsters to take up arms against the United States.

"You can see where the games are set to psychologically condition you to go kill coalition forces," said Eric Michael, of Science Applications International, which is being paid $7 million by the US government to monitor 1,500 militant websites.