Jihad's motley crew

Milanda Rout

ON a building site in Melbourne's western suburbs, an unlikely group of characters found themselves working together.

Yacqub Khayre arrived in Australia from Somalia as a young boy and spoke good English, worked hard but could not communicate with his Turkish-speaking boss.

Nayef El Sayed was young but had a fair share of responsibility with three children and a newborn baby. Wissam "Omar" Fattal, a former kickboxer and Muslim convert, used to complain about music played on the site because it was forbidden under Islamic law. They were all described by their boss as gentlemen who got their work done and seemed to get along.

So how did this group, along with two others, Saney Aweys and Abdirahman Ahmed - best described as a motley crew of individuals from different backgrounds and life experiences - end up being charged with conspiring to plan a terrorist attack on the Holsworthy army base in Sydney?

Seven volumes of prosecution evidence was tendered this week to the Melbourne Magistrates Court after four of the five men pleaded not guilty, waived the right to a committal hearing and were ordered to standtrial.

The fifth man, El Sayed, was not obliged to enter a plea and has reserved his right to have a committal proceeding next May.

The substantial brief - including lengthly police interviews - traces the life story of each leading up the fateful morning of the dramatic police raids that put an end to their alleged terror plot. Each is a tale of immigration and resettlement in a new country, and none is quite like the other.

Aweys, Ahmed and Khayre came as humanitarian refugees with their families from Somalia when they were children, with Khayre growing up among Italian and Greekmigrants. He cannot speak Somalian orArabic.

Fattal and El Sayed came to Australia from Lebanon, Fattal on the urging of a boxing promoter as he was a prize kickboxer and El Sayed returning here after doing one year of military service.

The group got to know each other when they started attending the Preston Mosque in Melbourne's northern suburbs.

The Australian Federal Police allege that, despite their differences, these five men were planning to die together, to launch a suicide attack on Holsworthy in which they would storm the military base and gun down as many soldiers as they could before they themselves were shot.

Aweys was said to have access to weapons. He was also said to have sought religious blessing - known as a fatwa - from a number of sheiks in Somalia to give sanction to their murderous plans.

"They want to enter into the military/forces are stationed, the barracks. Their desire to fan out and get as much as they could until they would be hit," Aweys says in one of the key conversations captured by secret AFP telephone intercepts, tendered to the court this week.

"And 20 minutes would be enough for us to take out five, six, 10 and eight - whatever Allah know ... six of them once they enter inside the location/place for about 20minutes to 30 minutes, until they will use up theirweapons."

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Source: The Australian

Terror trial suspect 'thanked Allah for Black Saturday'

ONE of the four Melbourne men ordered to stand trial on terrorism charges was allegedly recorded expressing happiness about the Black Saturday bushfires and the drought, court documents show.

Yacqub Khayre, 22, of Meadow Heights, Sany Edow Aweys, 26, of Carlton North, Abdirahmin Mohamud Ahmed, 25, of Preston, and Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, 33, of Melbourne Remand Centre, have all entered not guilty pleas on terrorism charges.

It is alleged the men were part of a conspiracy to attack Sydney's Holsworthy Army Base.

In a telephone call intercepted by police, Aweys tells a friend the "filthy people'' are being brought down hard by Allah.

"The whole nation is coming down, first the economy comes down first,'' he said.

"By Allah, factories shutting down, nothing here mate, nothing barely anything.

"By Allah, I've never seen Melbourne like this, then fire coming to them, no water, the water storage is empty.

"They are coping hard man. Thanks to Allah, thanks to Allah.''

A trial for the men is expected to begin next year.

A fifth man, Nayef El Sayed, 25 of Glenroy, will face a contested committal hearing on May 24 next year.

Source: The Australian

Men plead not guilty to plotting attack on Holsworthy army base

FOUR men accused of planning a terrorist attack on the Holsworthy army base have today been ordered to stand trial.

In a surprise move, defence lawyers for the four men have opted to go straight to trial rather than having a preliminary committal hearing to test the evidence.

The four men - Abdirahman Mohamud Ahmed, Saney Edow Aweys, Wissam Mahmoud Fattal Yacub Khayre - all pleaded not guilty this morning and were remanded to appear before the Supreme Court..

Another man, Nayef El Sayed, did not enter a plea today and is likely to face a committal hearing next May.

more to come

Source: The Australian

Terrorism accused trio refused bail

A Melbourne magistrate has refused bail for three of the five men accused of plotting to attack an army base in Sydney.

The bail application for Yacqub Khayre, Saney Aweys and Nayef El Sayed took twice as long as expected.

The prosecution alleged the men, who are charged with terrorism offences, may flee the country or re-offend if they were released.

But the defence argued the men were being kept in the harshest prison regime in Victoria and may not face trial for two or three years.

Magistrate Peter Reardon refused bail for the three accused.

Mr Reardon ruled the conditions the men were being held in were not desirable and not what the public would expect.

But he said that did not justify the granting of bail.

The men waved to their supporters as they were taken in to custody after the four day bail application.

Source: ABC Online

Terror plot accused 'hates Australia'

Milanda Rout | August 25

ONE of the men accused of plotting to attack an army base in Sydney hates Australia and anyone who does not follow Islam, Australian Federal Police have told a bail hearing.

Federal agent David Kinton, from the AFP counter-terrorism unit, said he was concerned that Saney Edow Aweys, 26, of Carlton North, would commit criminal offences if granted bail.

“A common theme throughout the investigation is hatred of Australia and anyone who doesn't follow islam,” Mr Kinton told Melbourne Magistrates' Court.

Mr Aweys is accused of conspiring with his co-accused to launch an attack on the Holsworthy army barracks and is one of three men applying for bail.

He is also facing additional charges of aiding the commission of an offence by Walid Osman Mohamed in Somalia and preparing for incursions into Somalia for the purposes of engaging in hostile activities.

The hearing before magistrate Peter Reardon continues.

Source: The Australian

Somali Al-Shabaab group a terrorist organisation

August 21, 2009

THE Rudd Government has listed Somali-based Al-Shabaab as a terrorist organisation.

In a Commonwealth Gazette statement dated August 21, 2009, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith listed the group under subsection 15 (1) of the Charter of the United Nations Act 1945.

The Government has been under pressure to proscribe the group, which has been listed as a terrorist organisation in the United States since February 2008.

Earlier in August, Australian police arrested several men with suspected links to al-Shabaab.

It's alleged the men intended to launch a suicide attack on the Holsworthy army barracks in Sydney.

According to the United States National Counter-Terrorism Centre website, senior members of the al-Shabaab leadership are affiliated with al-Qaeda and are believed to have fought with them in Afghanistan.

It said al-Shabaab was the militant wing of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council that took over most of southern Somalia in late 2006.

"In December 2006 and January 2007, Somali Government and Ethiopian forces routed it in a two-week war," the NCTC said.

"Since the end of 2006 it has led a violent insurgency, using guerrilla warfare and terrorist tactics against the continued Ethiopian presence in Somalia, the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, and non-governmental aid organisations."

No comment was immediately available from Attorney-General Robert McClelland's or Mr Smith's offices.

Source: The Australian

Call to list al-Shabaab as terror group

August 09

THE Somali-based terror group al-Shabaab should be listed as a terrorist organisation, opposition legal affairs spokesman George Brandis said today.

His comments come five days after five men were charged in Victoria over their alleged links to the a terrorist plot and the radical fundamentalist group.

The men, of Somali and Lebanese descent, had planned a suicide shoot-out at Sydney's Holsworthy military base.

"In view of the events that happened in Melbourne this week, we would be most surprised were al-Shabaab not to be listed," Senator Brandis told Sky News.

Al-Shabaab is not listed as a terrorist group in Australia but has been listed in the United States since February 2008.

When asked if proscribing al-Shabbab as a terror group would send them underground, Senator Brandis said the group was a covert operation picked up by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).

"So, I don't think driving them underground is really the issue."

Senator Brandis said the opposition would await the details of national security assessments, but he accused Attorney-General Robert McClelland of "dragging his feet" on counter terrorism policy.

Mr McClelland on Saturday said the Federal Government would consider changing the regime that governs whether or not radical groups are listed as terrorist organisations.

He said the Government was considering a review of the proscription process, making more transparent the criteria applied when identifying a terrorist group.

"In the next couple of weeks it is anticipated we will be issuing a discussion paper on the proscription regime and specifically identifying the informal criteria that are applied by the security agencies," he told ABC radio.

Source: The Australian

Terrorism suspects 'sought religious approval'

The arrests come after a seven-month counter-terrorism operation.

Five men being questioned over an alleged terrorist conspiracy had sought a religious ruling to authorise an attack in Australia, a court has heard.

Their arrests come after a seven-month counter-terrorism operation and police raids across Melbourne this morning.

It is alleged five men were planning to carry out an armed attack on the Holsworthy army base in Sydney.

The Melbourne Magistrates Court heard some of them discussed obtaining a religious ruling from overseas or interstate in support of their alleged plans.

One of the suspects, Nayef El Sayed, 25, of Glenroy, has been charged with a terrorism-related offence.

During his brief court appearance he sat behind a window and refused to stand to acknowledge the magistrate because, as his lawyer explained, his religious beliefs meant he felt he should only stand for God and not a man.

He did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody to face court again in October.

Federal Police also won an application to further question three other suspects who appeared in court today but have not been charged.

Victorian Magistrate Peter Reardon acts of terrorism in Madrid, Mumbai and London have struck at the heart of democratic society and investigators should be allowed to fully investigate such serious allegations.

A fifth suspect is in custody on other matters.

Raids

About 400 law enforcement officers took part in the series of raids that led to today's arrests.

The 19 raids took place across Melbourne and regional Victoria.

Australian Federal Police Acting Chief Commissioner Tony Negus says the operation was the result of seven months' work by several agencies.

He says more arrests are possible.

"There are further inquiries being conducted both in Australia and overseas," he said.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says Australia will not be increasing its terror alert level.

"Our assessment of the terrorist threat in Australia is that it comes from a small number of individuals who should in no way be taken as a wider reflection of any group within Australian society," he said.

But he says today's events are a strong reminder of the security threats facing the nation.

"The threat of terrorism is alive and well and this requires continued vigilance," he said.

Call for calm

Some of those arrested have a Somalian background and Islamic groups are urging people not to seek retaliation against Melbourne's African community.

Shereen Hassan, the vice-president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, says Muslims have been shocked by the raids and are calling for calm amid fears of a backlash.

"But we have faith that the overwhelming majority of Australians will not react in this way and remain calm," she said.

"[We] urge the wider community and the media to respect the privacy of the families concerned.

"The overwhelming majority of Australian Muslims unequivocally condemn all forms of terrorism."

Mohamed Baaruud from the Somalia Advocacy Action Group says the community cannot believe some Somali Australians have been implicated.

"We are all shocked," he said.

"This is the last thing we were expecting.

"Our community came to Australia about 17 years ago when the civil war started in Somalia and it took us a long time to recover from the trauma that we have experienced in our country of origin and start a new life here in Australia."

Doctor Jamal Rifi from the Lebanese Muslim Association says the authorities are to be congratulated for preventing the alleged attack.

"We'll do our best for anyone who will have any information to actually contact the relevant authority and to work cooperatively to uncover any or similar events that may take place," he said.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says authorities feared the group was planning to carry out its attack in the near future.

"It was likely imminent and that was part of the reason behind moving as we have," he said.

Security

NSW Premier Nathan Rees says he is satisfied the security at Sydney's Holsworthy Barracks is adequate.

Mr Scipione says security at the barracks was stepped up earlier this year, shortly after police became aware of the alleged plot.

Private guards are in charge of perimeter security at Holsworthy and other army bases.

Mr Rees says he has no problems with the arrangements in place at the state's military facilities.

"I have every confidence that the Australian Defence Force is more than adequately capable of looking after their assets, their bases and so on," he said.

Newspaper investigated

Meanwhile, Victoria Police is also investigating The Australian newspaper for publishing details of the raids about the time they were occurring.

Police claim the story was available before some of the arrests took place and could have compromised the operation.

But The Australian says the story only ran in its late edition which was not available until after the raids.

It says its online publishing schedule was altered to ensure the story was not made public until the raids had occurred.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland says he will investigate the timing of the story.

'Matter of time'

In other developments, a Somali community leader and Islamic scholar says he warned the Federal Government two years ago that a terrorist incident could occur in Australia.

Dr Herse Hilole, now a resident academic at the International Islamic University in Kuala Lumpur, told The World Today that he has expected such activities.

"My suspicion was that young Somali Muslims could be or may be used in the future to carry out some terrorist activities in Australia," he said.

He criticised the Federal Government's response to his warning.

"The response at the beginning was good, but the current government of Australia ... [it] seems that they did not take this seriously," he said.

"I proposed last year a project to help this situation, but my project was rejected by the Government."

Source: ABC Online