 THREATS of terrorism attacks by a masked man with an Australian accent shown on Arab television are being examined by Australian intelligence officers. A videotape of the man wearing a balaclava and speaking English with an Australian accent was aired on the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite channel and reshown on Australian TV this morning. The videotaped message warned that more terrorist attacks would be launched on the West.
| They've been warning us about that. We fastened our seatbelts for Sully a couple years ago, remember? Haven't heard from him lately. |
A spokeswoman at the attorney-general's office today said ASIO had made the department aware of the footage and was taking the matter seriously. "We've been advised that ASIO is looking at the footage very carefully and will keep us informed of any developments," she said.
The masked man, wearing combat gear and holding an automatic rifle, boasted about a recent attack that killed United States troops in Afghanistan. He slammed US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair over their involvement in Iraq.
| Ooooh! It's a psychoceramic with combat gear! |
The video also featured blurred footage said to be of a rocket attack on a helicopter that killed 16 US soldiers in June. The man, shown against a backdrop of trees, claimed a group of al-Qaeda fighters carried out the operation. "The animals under Islam will not just let you kill our families in Palestine, Afghanistan, Kashmir and the Balkans, Indonesia, the Caucuses and elsewhere," the masked man said. "It is time for us to be equals. As you kill us, you'll be killed. As you bomb us, you will be bombed."
| "The animals under Islam," is it? Interesting turn of phrase there. I've often thought of the adherents of Islam as animals. Part of them as sheep, part of them as lemmings, and part of them as vicious vermin fit for nothing but extermination. But maybe that's just me. So far. |
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