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| Down Under |
| Terror notes at Habib's home |
| 2004-07-18 |
| NOTES from a terrorist weapons training course were found in the Sydney home of Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib, who has also allegedly met Osama bin Laden. Mr Habib allegedly told a Sydney friend before his arrest that he was a big fan of bin Laden and wanted to live in one of the terrorist mastermind's training camps. Consequently, the father of four travelled overseas in March 2000, allegedly to train with Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, or LET, which has since been listed as a banned terrorist group in Australia. "I met him (Mr Habib) in a cafe in Lakemba and he discussed with me that he had plans to go to Afghanistan to live an Islamic life in the bin Laden camp," friend and taxi driver Ibrahim Fraser has told the ABC's Four Corners. Mr Fraser said he thought Mr Habib had told him, after returning from Afghanistan, that he had met bin Laden there. Mr Fraser said Mr Habib revealed little else about his trip. Mr Habib is detained by the US at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, along with fellow Australian terror suspect David Hicks. Leaving Sydney for a second trip in July 2001, Mr Habib told friends and family he was going to search for a suitable religious school for his children in Pakistan. But the Australian Government says Mr Habib went to Afghanistan to train with al-Qaeda. In tonight's program, Four Corners says Mr Habib underwent an advanced training course there in surveillance and photographing facilities, the establishment and use of safehouses, covert travel and writing secret reports. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |