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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |||
| 3 Australian Islamic extremists arrested and 1 killed in Lebanon | |||
| 2007-06-26 | |||
| Alexander Downer said on Monday that three Australians were part of the alleged Islamic militants arrested fighting the Lebanese troops in the northern city of Tripoli. Downer says the arrested Australians were not known to Australian security authorities. "They've been arrested as a result of fighting between the Lebanese army and Islamic extremists and they certainly weren't in the Lebanese army," Downer told reporters in Canberra. "It suggests rather obviously that the Lebanese had very significant security concerns about them". He added Australian consular officials who have so far been unable to gain access to the trio (the Lebanese Defense Ministry has so far denied consular access to them), were also checking reports that two other Australians were killed in the fighting, Downer said. Downer did not release the names or the date when the men were arrested, whose families are being contacted by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials. Reports from Lebanon say a man with dual Australian-Lebanese citizenship was killed by Government forces during a weekend raid in the northern city of Tripoli. Security sources say at least six of the seven people killed in the 10-hour siege were armed militants, including Saudis, a Chechen and two Lebanese people, who also held foreign passports. It is suspected one of them was the Australian. The sources have released the identity of the dead Australian fighter but the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) has asked media to withhold his name until it confirms the killing and informs the man's family. His Lebanese wife, who was not named, was also killed in the raid on an apartment block in the Sunni neighborhood of Abu Samra. At least eight others were killed when Lebanese troops raided the building where suspected Islamic militants had sought refuge. The Army says most of the men killed were non-Lebanese. One of the 3 arrested Australians a Sydney is not connected to a hard-line militant group and will be released some time in the next few days, his family said today. Ibrahim Sabouh, 33, has been living in Lebanon for more than a year with his wife and family. Sabouh, who has worked in finance in Sydney, was arrested on Thursday by Lebanese security forces at his apartment in Abu Samra, near the northern city of Tripoli. Lebanese authorities are reported as saying Sabouh may be connected to the militant group Fatah al-Islam, but his family has denied the claims. "I don't know where the hell they got that from,'' Sabouh's nephew, Zac Sabouh, said today from his family's Auburn home in Sydney's west. "We read the papers as well - that's a load of s---." He said Sabouh's family in Sydney has not heard from the Federal Government on the progress of moves to determine his uncle's status. But the family had made contact with its own "sources'' in Lebanon and had been told he will be released in the next two days.
Sabouh would not provide details of the family's contacts in Lebanon but said they reported his uncle was being treated well. "We're concerned about how they're treating him but our sources say they're looking after him,'' he said. Sabouh said his uncle had planned to leave Lebanon today. "He's meant to go to Saudi Arabia,'' he said.
Sabouh said he was unsure if his uncle would return to Australia. "Hopefully his family will convince him to come back - we're not really sure,'' he said. He said the extended Sabouh family in Sydney was "coping alright'' with the situation but they were still in shock over the arrest. "He's an innocent man,'' he said.
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| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 I wonder if this world's political leadership even has a clue about this emerging pattern. Wherever Muslims settle in large numbers outside of the MME (Muslim Middle East), suddenly we find jihadists from those locations appearing on our battle fronts. What more indication do these effete pansy-ass Nancyboys need to understand that Muslims bring jihad with them—and then export it—wherever they go? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-06-26 14:56 |
| #5 "Four Lebanese Muslim extremists carrying Australian passports..." So many Lebanese seem to have secondary passports for safe countries these days. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-06-26 13:27 |
| #4 Lemme change that title for ya. "4 Australian Islamic Extremists killed in Lebanon" There, much better. |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2007-06-26 12:59 |
| #3 Much like the "Canadians" my government tries to contact when caught red-handed on the field of war, I am disgusted yet more tax-payer dollars - in this case Australian - are being squandered on the welfare of Orcs intent on our blood. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-06-26 10:00 |
| #2 What, your name's not Bruce? No, it's Mahmood. Mind if we call you Bruce to avoid any confusion? |
| Posted by: Spot 2007-06-26 08:01 |
| #1 And I bet none of those Australians were named Bruce. I know it defies all the odds, but there's my prediction. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-06-26 07:17 |