AUTHORITIES have compiled a top-secret hit list of more than 100 terror suspects living in Australia. The suspects, all linked to terror group al-Qaeda or its Asian offshoot Jemaah Islamiah, are under constant surveillance by the nation's spy agency ASIO. The hit list names suspected "sleeper agents" and includes Muslim clerics, business people, foreigners – and even Australian citizens.
| Oh, horrors! Not Australian citizens! They should be exempt. They'd never hurt anyone... |
Intelligence sources confirmed that the suspects are monitored by listening devices, video-taping, informers and phone taps. ASIO has also launched a major counter-intelligence operation to pre-empt a terrorist strike, using undercover agents and electronic devices to monitor Australia's mosques. Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock yesterday confirmed the existence of the list – one of ASIO's most closely-guarded secrets.
| And now it's out, so now they know, so they can take countermeasures. The whole thing might not be ruined, but it's sure as hell not helped... |
He refused to reveal how many on the hit list were Australian citizens, but it is believed there are 20. In the wake of the London attacks, security experts said the threat posed by "homegrown radicals" was greater than that of overseas terrorists. Former London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens revealed intelligence pointing to "at least 100 and probably nearer 200 Osama Bin Laden-trained terrorists walking Britain's streets". Leading international terrorism expert Peter Chalk confirmed sleeper cells were believed to be operating in Australia. Dr Chalk, a former University of Queensland lecturer now with the Rand Corporation think-tank in California, said the new breed of terrorists might not fit traditional profiles. "They could be converted Caucasians who have bought in on the al-Qaeda message," he said.
| They should be the ones you kill first... |
Dr Chalk said evidence was emerging that al-Qaeda and JI had farmed out responsibility for strikes to local cells. "They may only be two or three people . . . in many ways, they are much more dangerous." The Sunday Mail understands that the ASIO list has been lengthened in recent months after intelligence was gathered from Pakistan and France. ASIO received crucial intelligence from Pakistan after the arrest of top al-Qaeda operative Mohammed Noor Khan who allegedly sent messages from Osama bin Laden and other leaders to Asian terrorist cells planning attacks in Australia. ASIO also learnt much about al-Qaeda's plans for Australia from French judge Jean-Louis Brugiere, who is in charge of the Willie Brigitte case in France. Brigitte was deported to France in 2003 after allegedly planning a terrorist attack here. Judge Brugiere will visit Australia this month for talks with ASIO and federal police. It is believed ASIO is particularly interested in al-Qaeda-linked group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is banned in Australia but has strong links to Pakistan and Afghanistan Islamic groups. |