alexz
06-22-2005, 11:37 PM
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SYD64341.htm
MELBOURNE, June 23 (*******) - Australian counter-terrorism officers raided four homes in the southern city of Melbourne after an investigation revealed Islamic extremists were planning to attack city landmarks, local media reported on Thursday.
The raids on Wednesday, following a 10-month investigation by the Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation, were aimed at disrupting the group and no arrests were made, local media said.
The Australian government, police and security authorities were not immediately available for comment.
Australia has never suffered a major terror attack on home soil, but 88 Australians were among the 202 killed in the October 2002 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Australia's conservative government has steadily beefed up its anti-terrorism laws since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Australia is a staunch U.S. ally and has sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Australian media said the men raided had been bugged talking about overseas terrorist incidents and how they wanted to commit similar attacks in Australia.
One member of the Melbourne group had taken video footage of two city train stations and the city's stock exchange building, said The Australian newspaper.
Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper said the Melbourne group had been in contact with another Islamic group in Sydney which was suspected of planning attacks against targets such as the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
The Australian newspaper said police believed that several of the men involved had conducted paramilitary training with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Kashmiri separatist group.
Lashkar-e-Taiba is among 16 organisations banned under Australian anti-terrorism laws.
Pakistan-born architect Faheem Khalid Lodhi, 34, will stand trial in Sydney on July 1 on terrorism charges. Prosecutors say he returned from a Lashkar-e-Taiba camp with plans for a terrorist attack in the city. Lodhi has pleaded not guilty.
A second Australian, former Qantas baggage handler Bilal Khazal, 35, will also stand trial on terrorism charges on July 1 for compiling what prosecutors say a terrorist manual. He has also pleaded not guilty.
MELBOURNE, June 23 (*******) - Australian counter-terrorism officers raided four homes in the southern city of Melbourne after an investigation revealed Islamic extremists were planning to attack city landmarks, local media reported on Thursday.
The raids on Wednesday, following a 10-month investigation by the Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation, were aimed at disrupting the group and no arrests were made, local media said.
The Australian government, police and security authorities were not immediately available for comment.
Australia has never suffered a major terror attack on home soil, but 88 Australians were among the 202 killed in the October 2002 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Australia's conservative government has steadily beefed up its anti-terrorism laws since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Australia is a staunch U.S. ally and has sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Australian media said the men raided had been bugged talking about overseas terrorist incidents and how they wanted to commit similar attacks in Australia.
One member of the Melbourne group had taken video footage of two city train stations and the city's stock exchange building, said The Australian newspaper.
Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper said the Melbourne group had been in contact with another Islamic group in Sydney which was suspected of planning attacks against targets such as the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
The Australian newspaper said police believed that several of the men involved had conducted paramilitary training with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Kashmiri separatist group.
Lashkar-e-Taiba is among 16 organisations banned under Australian anti-terrorism laws.
Pakistan-born architect Faheem Khalid Lodhi, 34, will stand trial in Sydney on July 1 on terrorism charges. Prosecutors say he returned from a Lashkar-e-Taiba camp with plans for a terrorist attack in the city. Lodhi has pleaded not guilty.
A second Australian, former Qantas baggage handler Bilal Khazal, 35, will also stand trial on terrorism charges on July 1 for compiling what prosecutors say a terrorist manual. He has also pleaded not guilty.