17 held in Australia terror swoop

[Ferran]

17 held in Australia terror swoop

Tuesday, November 8, 2005; Posted: 1:42 a.m. EST (06:42 GMT)

People arrested on terror charges are brought in a van to the Central Court in Sydney, Australia.

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Australian prosecutors began outlining what they say were planned attacks against citizens after police arrested 17 people on terrorism charges Tuesday in the nation's two largest cities.

Police made the arrests in Sydney and Melbourne. Those arrested include a Muslim cleric accused of masterminding a cell dedicated to "violent jihad."

Australian authorities credited their 18-month investigation with averting terrorist bombings.

"We believe that we've been able to significantly disrupt a proposed terrorist attack here in Australia," New South Wales Police Commissioner Ken Moroney told Australia's Channel 7 Television.

Police have confirmed one man who had been under surveillance was shot and wounded by police Tuesday morning in an outer Sydney suburb.

The man allegedly fire shots at the police and a second gun was found in a backpack he was carrying, Australia's Sky News reported. He is under police guard in hospital.

A prominent Islamic cleric, Abu Bakr, was among nine men who appeared Tuesday morning in the Melbourne Magistrates Court charged with being members of a terror group.

Prosecutor Richard Maidment told the court the nine formed a terrorist group to kill "innocent men and women in Australia," The Associated Press reports.

"The members of the Sydney group have been gathering chemicals of a kind that were used in the London Underground bombings," Maidment said.

He said Bakr was the leader of the group.

"Each of the members of the group are committed to the cause of violent jihad," AP reported Maidment as saying.

Victorian state police had more than 240 hours of phone intercepts in which the group discussed plans to kill Australian civilians, the court was told.

Some of the group had attended military training, and they had a pooled fund of money to finance alleged plots, the court heard.

Bakr has previously stated support for al Qaeda mastermind Osama Bin Laden and for terrorist causes around the world. (Bakr profile)

There were wild scenes outside the Melbourne court, as young men scuffled and traded punches with media crews covering the suspects' appearances.

Followers of Bakr had been known to have traveled to Central Asia for terror training, Channel Nine reporter Sarah Ferguson told CNN.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty told CNN that about 600 police across Australia had been involved in the crackdown.

He described the operation as a "complex matter that would take some months to work through."

The arrests followed the execution of 22 search warrants across Sydney and Melbourne Tuesday morning during which a range of material "including unidentified substances, firearms, travel documents, computers and backpacks" was seized, a statement released by the Australian Federal Police said.

"By working collaboratively, Australia's law enforcement and intelligence agencies have managed to disrupt the alleged activities of this group and therefore protect the Australian community from a potential terrorist threat," Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner John Lawler said.

Prime Minister's terror warning

The warrants are part of a joint counterterrorism operation by the Australian Federal Police, New South Wales Police, Victoria Police, the New South Wales Crime Commission and Australian Security Intelligence Organization.

In a news conference Tuesday, Australian Prime Minister said new anti-terror laws that were passed last week by parliament played a role in the arrests.

"We were advised that the change would strengthen the capacity of the authorities to respond to the situation that had been identified, and it is the view of the two police commissioners and the Victorian premier that that is precisely what happened," Howard said.

The arrests come less than a week after Howard held a nationally televised news conference in which he said Australia had received intelligence about a "terrorist threat."

Howard recalled Australia's upper house of parliament so it could pass urgent amendments to controversial anti-terror laws on Thursday which now allow police to charge people in the early stages of planning an attack.

Australia, a steadfast ally of the Bush administration, has not suffered a major terror attack on home soil but its embassy and citizens have been targeted in neighboring Indonesia.

Eighty-eight Australians were among the 202 people killed in the October 2002 Bali nightclub bombings.

The country has been on medium security alert since shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.


Source: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapc...ror/index.html