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Down Under
Radical Melbourne imam returns to preach jihad
2012-11-05
The leader of an Islamic group recently the focus of anti-terror raids has returned from overseas to resume his hardline preaching in Melbourne.

Harun Mehicevic, also known as Abu Talha,
...a common nom de jihad. We've got scads of them in the Rantburg archives...
returned from Bosnia late last month and is again promoting the virtues of jihad at the Al-Furqan Islamic Information Centre in Springvale South. The Australian Federal Police raided the centre and Mehicevic's home in September during an operation that targeted 12 properties, most of them in south-east Melbourne. Mehicevic was in Bosnia at the time.

As a result of the raids, Adnan Karabegovic, 23, was charged with four counts of collecting documents in preparation of a terrorist act. The raids led to the seizure of items including a computer memory stick containing "violent orc materials", as well as imitation firearms and registered guns.

Speaking from a driveway, Mehicevic said he had been silent since the raids because he thought nothing could be gained from speaking while the Al-Furqan centre was being criticised. He said, "With all the hype of raids and everything, you get no benefit of talking. You wait for everything to settle down."

Mehicevic is controversial within the Mohammedan community. The imam of the nearby Bosnian mosque said Mehicevic had led a group of "radical followers" away from the Noble Park mosque about 10 years ago. Another community source who also spoke of Mehicevic soon after the raids said he is not well respected in Melbourne's Islamic community.

There were reports after the raids that sources said Mehicevic had come to Australia from Bosnia in the mid-1990s, and that he had a Pak-born wife and six children. He turned to Salafism and became a follower of hardline Melbourne holy man Sheikh Mohammed Omran, and associated with Abdul Nacer Benbrika, who is serving 15-years' jail for planning a terrorist attack in Melbourne in 2005. When Benbrika split from Omran, Mr Mehicevic remained loyal to the senior holy man.
Posted by:ryuge

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