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| Down Under |
| Brigitte sent to target Sydney army bases, claim French |
| 2004-02-06 |
| Frenchman Willie Brigitte was sent to Australia by Pakistani terrorists and planned to target military bases in Sydney, the French counter-terrorism unit DST alleges. Brigitte’s key contact in Australia was a Pakistani man who was also believed to be part of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, DST deputy director Jean-Francois Clair told the Nine Network’s Sunday program. It would be interesting to find out just how far up in the ranks of the Lashkar that this goes. The fact that a Lashkar man was the contact probably means al Qaeda doesn’t have much of a presence in Australia. This man, whom Sunday will name, used the internet to view the layout of army bases and attempted to obtain chemical ingredients for explosives, the program will allege at the weekend. Since I live in Australia, i’ll watch this and see if there is any additional information "French terror suspect Willie Brigitte was sent to Australia by a Pakistani terrorist organisation and was in the process of considering which military targets the group would attack," Sunday said in a statement. Lashkar-e-Taiba, or Army of the Pure, has proved the most brutal terrorism group active in the Indian states of Kashmir and Jammu. Brigitte told his French interrogators that his handlers asked him to meet a Chechen explosives expert in Sydney, DST alleges. Brigitte said the meeting with the unidentified Chechen, who might still be in Australia, never occurred. Brigitte was part of a group of fewer than six people in Sydney which included his Pakistani contact, DST alleges. Right about the normal size for an operational terrorist cell. The French were surprised ASIO had not interrogated Brigitte under its new powers before he was deported to France, Sunday reporter Sarah Ferguson said. And they were surprised that ASIO took four days to respond to one their final warnings of their suspensions about Brigitte’s intentions in Australia. "They (French) were surprised that they didn’t respond more quickly and they were surprised that he wasn’t fully interrogated here," Ms Ferguson said. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock’s spokesman said there was a delay in responding to the French warning because it was sent on October 3 - the Friday night before a long weekend. Brigitte was arrested for visa violations two days later and five months after he arrived in Australia. Sunday cites an unnamed French judicial figure saying ASIO’s naivety made him "go cold". Typical incompetence |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #1 The French were surprised ASIO had not interrogated Brigitte under its new powers before he was deported to France, Sunday reporter Sarah Ferguson said. And they were surprised that ASIO took four days to respond to one their final warnings of their suspensions about Brigitte’s intentions in Australia. "Suspensions"???? Haahaha... |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-2-6 10:50:56 AM |