18 people arrested in terror raids, Australia

[Said1]

Australian arrests thwart 'catastrophic' terror attack

POLICE in Australia believe 18 people arrested in terror raids had carried out surveillance on the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

Officers, who believe they have prevented a "catastrophic" terror attacks on Sydney and Melbourne, seized bomb-making chemicals, computers and weapons during raids involving 500 police and helicopters.

A radical Muslim cleric known for praising Osama bin Laden was charged with masterminding the plot.

One suspect was shot and seriously wounded after opening fire on police. A bomb squad robot was used to inspect the suspect's backpack and a hand gun was found, police said.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Ken Moroney, said: "I'm satisfied that we have disrupted what I would regard as the final stages of a large-scale terrorist attack here in Australia."

Police would not reveal details of the targets but it is understood the Opera House and Harbour Bridge were under threat.

Among those arrested is Abu Bakr, a leading Algerian-Australian cleric, who has described Osama bin Laden as "a great man" and said he would be violating his faith if he warned students against joining the jihad in Iraq.

Bakr was among nine men who appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court charged with being members of a terror group planning to kill "innocent men and women in Australia".

Seven of the suspects, including Bakr, were remanded to appear on January 31. Two others are applying for bail.

Prosecutor Richard Maidment told the court the nine planned to kill "innocent men and women in Australia."

"The members of the Sydney group have been gathering chemicals of a kind that were used in the London Underground bombings," Maidment said, adding that Abu Bakr was the group's ringleader.

"Each of the members of the group are committed to the cause of violent jihad," he added, saying they underwent military-style training at a rural camp northeast of Melbourne.

Seven men arrested in Sydney were held in cells at a tightly-guarded downtown court during a five-minute hearing. They were ordered to be held until another hearing on Friday on charges of preparing a terror act by manufacturing explosives.

The eighth suspect, the man shot by police, was under guard in hospital.

Defence lawyer Adam Houda told reporters outside the court that the charges were a "scandalous political prosecution."

"There's no evidence that terrorism was contemplated or being planned by any particular person at any particular time or at any particular place," he said.

Prime Minister John Howard, who last week warned of a possible imminent terror attack in Australia, thanked security forces in a news conference. "This country has never been immune from a possible terrorist attack," he said. "That remains the situation today and will be the situation tomorrow."

Howard last week rushed an amendment to terror laws through Parliament that he said would beef up police powers to arrest suspects plotting attacks. Melbourne police said the new powers helped them carry out their raids.

• Tony Blair was today on a collision course with Labour rebels after refusing to back down over controversial anti-terror laws.

The Government had pledged to compromise over moves to allow police to hold terror suspects without charge for up to 90 days, but Home Secretary Charles Clarke last night refused to give ground on the plan,

instead offering a "sunset clause" which would see the law die out and have to be renewed after 12 months.

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[CSM]

I hope the "scandalous political prosecution" of these scum results in at least life in prison!

 

[Mr. P]

I’m a bit disappointed in the police; I think that STB should have been used without prejudice.

But they still get from me!

STB….”Shoot The Bastards”.