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| Down Under |
| Inquiry to be launched into Hamwi |
| 2006-04-10 |
| One might contrast this with the UK, which apparently has 400-600 known al-Qaeda members operating within its borders and doesn't appear to be making any serious efforts to remove them. THE Howard Government will launch an investigation into why an alleged senior al-Qaeda bagman was allowed into Australia a decade ago and whether he lied to immigration authorities about his past. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation will also examine information revealed in The Weekend Australian on Saturday about Ahmad al-Hamwi and allegations that he had supplied funds for terrorists across South-East Asia. An Immigration Department spokeswoman said the case files of Mr Hamwi, who was found living in the southwestern Sydney suburb of Riverwood last week, would be reopened and examined to determine if he had committed citizenship fraud. Mr Hamwi, also known by his alias Abu Omar, told the Refugee Review Tribunal in 1996 he had no involvement in terrorism and failed to mention a residency in Turkey. Philippines National Police intelligence reports allege that he had been banned from Turkey for his suspected involvement in a 1986 bombing. The Weekend Australian revealed on Saturday that Mr Hamwi was the director of an Islamic charity that US and Philippines counter-terrorist officials say was a conduit for funding an al-Qaeda cell in Manila planning a major terrorist attack on US airliners and an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1995. Philippines National Police intelligence reports also say the charity funded the Philippines terrorist group Abu Sayef and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The spokeswoman said if there was enough evidence to show Mr Hamwi had committed immigration fraud his citizenship or residency in Australia could be revoked. "We would have to establish there was a case to answer, then it would be referred to the Australian Federal Police," she said. A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the information contained in the story would be of interest to security agencies. "Anything that goes to national security is not something that the Attorney would comment on, his view would be that if there are people of a security concern, our agencies would obviously be concerned and investigating that," Mr Ruddock's spokeswoman said. "At this stage they're reports, that information is now obviously in the public domain and clearly available to security agencies." A spokesman for Opposition national security spokesman Arch Bevis said the federal Government had to explain why a person with close ties to Osama bin Laden had been given refuge in Australia. "The Government's handling of immigration and asylum matters has seen some Australians deported whilst people close to terrorists remain at large here in Australia," he said. The Weekend Australian put detailed questions to Mr Hamwi but he repeatedly refused to respond. Mr Hamwi admitted to the Refugee Review Tribunal that he was the director of the International Research and Information Centre (IRIC) in Manila from 1993 to 1995. According to terrorism researcher Zachary Abuza and Philippines National Police counter-terrorist investigator Rodolfo Mendoza, he was part of a three-man team at the charity, which was the chief conduit of funds to 1993 World Trade Centre bomber Ramzi Yousef. Yousef was planning to blow up 11 US airliners over the Pacific in 1995 when an accidental explosion in his apartment alerted Philippines police to the plot, known as Operation Bojinka, and the related plot to assassinate John Paul II. Mr Hamwi became involved in the charity through his brother-in-law and former flatmate, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa - who is Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law - and was sent to the Philippines by the world's most wanted man to establish a Southeast Asian arm to his worldwide terrorist network. The pair lived together for years and married Filipina sisters, Nora and Alice. For Khalifa, this was one of two wives - his other wife is Osama bin Laden's older sister. One of the other men involved with the IRIC was Wali Khan Amin Shah, a close associate of bin Laden who became a key planner in the Bojinka plot. Wali Khan was arrested in February 1995. He was later convicted along with Yousef. He has since co-operated with US authorities. Mr Mendoza's investigation fingered Mr Hamwi for providing funding to Yousef for his terrorist activities through an intermediary, Carol Santiago (who revealed his name during interrogation), and her boyfriend, Wali Khan. Mr Hamwi was questioned but never arrested for his role in the plot. Philippines officials were ill-prepared to round up all the suspects, who soon fled the country. Mr Hamwi fled to Australia just months after the discovery of the plot. Former ASIS spy Warren Reed said allowing Mr Hamwi into the country was a "potentially dangerous situation". |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |