[Independent] Arrests in Australia foil 'catastrophic act of terror'

[M.G.G. Pillai]

The Independent, London


Arrests in Australia foil 'catastrophic act of terror'
By Kathy Marks in Sydney
Published: 09 November 2005

Australian police staged fresh raids last night, less than 24 hours
after arresting 17 men who they believe were planning a "catastrophic
act of terrorism".

Federal officers swooped on a house in the suburbs of south-west
Sydney, but refused to confirm that a woman and two children had been
taken away. They declined to comment on reports that a second home
nearby had also been searched.

Hundreds of armed police were involved in yesterday's pre-dawn raids
in Sydney and Melbourne, the largest anti-terrorism operation mounted
in Australia. One of the 17 suspects was in a critical condition in
hospital after being shot in the neck during a gunfight with police.
The others appeared in court yesterday, charged with conspiring to
carry out a terrorist act and belonging to a proscribed organisation.
Police say they seized chemicals similar to those used in the London
Underground bombings in July.

The raids and arrests appeared to vindicate the Prime Minister, John
Howard, who last week rushed an amendment to existing counter-
terrorism laws through parliament, claiming it was necessary to foil
a specific threat.

Critics accused him of trying to divert attention from unpopular
domestic policies, including proposed legislation eroding trade union
rights.

There is no question that the developments have come at a fortuitous
time for Mr Howard, who earlier this week introduced draconian anti-
terrorist legislation into parliament. The bill - which has been
condemned by lawyers, civil libertarians and some opposition
politicians - will allow suspects to be detained without charge for
14 days. It also sets jail terms of up to seven years for people
convicted of sedition, a provision that many fear will stifle
artistic freedom and free speech.

The Nobel Prize-winning author J M Coetzee, who settled in Australia
a few years ago, recently made a thinly veiled attack on the proposed
legislation, drawing a comparison with state-sanctioned human rights
abuses in his native South Africa during the apartheid era.

The government has been warning Australians for several years that
the country is a potential terrorist target. However, it has
steadfastly denied that its contribution of troops to the US-led war
in Iraq has in any way increased the threat. Last year the Federal
Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty, was forced to recant under
political pressure after suggesting just that.

Yesterday's action against the suspected members of a home-grown
terrorist cell followed an 18-month investigation. Mr Keelty said
there would be more arrests.

"The operation is a long way from being finished," he said.

Those detained included the cell's alleged spiritual leader, Abdul
Nacer Benbrika, an Algerian-born radical Muslim cleric from Melbourne.

He has publicly praised Osama bin Laden and urged his students to
engage in "violent jihad".

During a court hearing in Melbourne, police alleged that surveillance
had picked up one suspect, 20-year-old Abdulla Merhi, begging for
permission to become a martyr to avenge the war in Iraq.

© 2005 Independent News & Media (UK) Ltd.