A hearing began Monday to determine whether nine members of an alleged Islamic terror cell should stand trial over claims they stockpiled bomb-making materials in a plot to attack Australia's only nuclear reactor. The men, who were arrested in a series of pre-dawn raids in late 2005, stand accused of conspiracy to make explosives in preparation for a terrorist attack, and being members of a terrorist group. A hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to go to trial began Monday at the Penrith District Court amid tight security. Armed police stood guard at the courthouse and patrolled nearby streets, while lawyers, journalists and members of the public underwent rigorous security checks before being allowed to enter the building. But James Renwick, a lawyer for the national spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, told Magistrate Michael Price that he would request that the hearing be closed to the public for national security reasons. Price did not immediately rule on the request.
The nine accused -Mohammed Ali Elomar, Mazen Touma, Abdul Rakib Hasan, Khaled Cheikho, Moustafa Cheikho, Khaled Sharrouf, Mirsad Mulahalilovic, Omar Baladjam and Mohammed Jamal -did not appear in court Monday, but were likely to attend Tuesday when lawyers present the evidence against them.
A police report handed to the court at the time of the arrests claimed the men had attended "jihad" training courses in the Australian Outback and were assembling chemicals, detonators, digital timers and batteries to carry out a major bomb attack. The Lucas Height nuclear reactor, a facility used to make radioactive medical supplies on the southern edge of Sydney, Australia's most populous city, was listed as a possible target.
The report also alleged several members of the group took "jihad training" trips to the Outback town of Bourke, about 650 kilometers (400 miles) northwest of Sydney, in mid-2005. The hearing is expected to last up to three months.