TWO accused terrorists, including a convicted al-Qaeda operative, have returned from Lebanon to live in Sydney's Islamic heartland. Police and ASIO have been closely watching Mohammed Ramez Sultan and Zuhair Mohammed Issa since they returned separately from Beirut in the past four months. Sultan, a former used-car dealer, was released in September from Lebanon's Roumieh prison after serving an 18-month sentence on a charge of having helped set up an al-Qaeda-linked terror cell. Sheikh Issa, an Islamic cleric, has been charged by Lebanese authorities on an unrelated matter, of allegedly helping Sydney fugitive Saleh Jamal plan terrorist attacks in Lebanon and abroad. Lebanese authorities had released Sheikh Issa from detention before the start of a round of trials, given his alleged minor role in what they claimed was a terror conspiracy. However, Lebanon had not been aware of Sheikh Issa's journey to Sydney, and Beirut chief military investigating magistrate Riad Talih has since issued a subpoena through the Australian embassy in Lebanon asking for his return. Sheikh Issa's Sydney lawyer, Adam Houda, declined to comment. Another Islamic cleric, Australian Muslim community leader Sheikh Taj Din al-Hilali, spoke out strongly yesterday in defence of Sultan, claiming he had been "caught up in a case of mistaken identity".
| "All those sheikhs look alike, y'know..." |
"He was a regular at the Lakemba mosque before he left and has come back since his return," Sheikh Hilali said. "He is staying with his wife and eight children in a friend's living room and we have not been able to find accommodation for him."
| Apartment wanted, quiet tenant. |
Sultan denied repeated requests for an interview and did not respond to two key claims from Lebanese authorities - that he was linked to al-Qaeda and an accomplice of Saleh Jamal, who fled Sydney using a false passport while on bail for firearms offences. Sultan left Australia for Lebanon in 1998. He was arrested on October 22, 2002, and together with a Saudi man accused of inciting youths to join al-Qaeda. Sultan had been a regular traveller to Iran and Germany. He claimed his travels were necessary to help him expand his fledgling car dealership.
| 'cause the best cars come from Iran, ya know. |
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