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| Down Under |
| Joint Ops underway in Sydney & Melbourne |
| 2005-11-06 |
| EXTRA counter-terrorism police have been rushed to Sydney to take part in the 24-hour surveillance of two suspects believed to be planning an attack on Australian soil. The Australian understands a command post has been established in Sydney to monitor the men, one of whom has been linked to the outlawed terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. A parallel operation is under way in Melbourne and it is believed raids are imminent on the properties of the six suspects, even though it would not necessarily lead to arrests. Anti-terror police are waiting for approval from the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions before swooping on the group. Last night, police declined to comment on the operations, which involve dozens of police in both NSW and Victoria. The group has been electronically monitored for the past 12 months. Several of them are closely linked to fugitive Sydney man Saleh Jamal, who was arrested on weapons charges in Lebanon after the Australian Federal Police warned their Lebanese counterparts that Jamal intended to become a suicide bomber. Police sources indicated some of the group first came to the attention of authorities before the Sydney Olympic Games. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock yesterday defended the rushed amendment to anti-terrorism legislation while admitting arrests were not imminent. "Authorities needed to be able to act if there was information about a potential terrorist act but where you didn't know the detail as to where and when it might occur," said Mr Ruddock told the Ten Network's Meet the Press. "The information we had suggested it would be desirable to have it in place now. That doesn't mean in any way that I or the Prime Minister influence operational issues. They are matters dealt with independently by the police and other authorities. "Whatever will happen will happen at an appropriate time, if at all." Mr Ruddock said the important thing was for police to have the capacity to deal with the threat - which they now had. He refused to comment on reports that spy agency ASIO was aware of a new radical cell comprising the Australian-born offspring of Muslim immigrants. "Typecasting is never helpful," he said. "To suggest it is a particular group and to characterise it in a particular way isn't helpful either." It was revealed in The Weekend Australian that John Howard's decision to publicly reveal the terror threat last week had caused a rift between the spy agency ASIO and state and federal police over the security of the counter-terrorist operations. Senior police claimed the Prime Minister's announcement had jeopardised their monitoring and surveillance work. But NSW and federal police were not officially commenting yesterday. One of the Sydney men, who is a target of the current operation, had allegedly been identified by a US terrorist informant who claimed to have met him at a military training camp run by the outlawed militia group Lashkar-e-Taiba. It is believed the man is the key link to another group of men in Melbourne who had been seen filming Melbourne landmarks including the stock exchange and trains stations. The group were all the subject of ASIO raids in June this year. One of the Sydney men who was raided was highly distressed after the agents spent more than 24 hours searching his home in the western suburbs. A relative of the young man said the agents even searched the roof of his home leaving him and his family very upset. The relative, who did not want to be identified, denied the man had done anything wrong, and claimed the raid was an example of the authorities unfairly targeting Muslims. |
| Posted by:God Save The World AKA Oztralian |
| #4 Excellent point Ex-lib. It comes natural for them however. They've blamed the Jew for everything negative that has ever happened to them since the dawn of time. The off-shore muzzies simply carry on the blame game tradition. Personal responsibility is unheard of. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2005-11-06 21:29 |
| #3 " . . . unfairly targeting Muslims" This constant blame thing on the part of the Islamics is a clear indication of bad parenting / dysfunctional family dynamics which have permeated and affected the culture from the foundations. (Just some FYI.) |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2005-11-06 21:22 |
| #2 They don't want you to get all the good parking spots before they get their cameras set up??? |
| Posted by: anon2 2005-11-06 19:35 |
| #1 Why don't they give the address and tell us what time the raid is scheduled? |
| Posted by: Jeash Snump6580 2005-11-06 19:22 |