|
Informers told Australian police about terror cells
AN ISLAMIC supergrass, who has met al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, has been assisting Australian police uncover alleged terrorist cells, intelligence sources reveal. The man, who uses an alias, fears for his life. The help he gave Australian Federal Police's Operation Pandanus is said to be crucial in the arrests of 18 alleged terrorists this week. It is believed he was not arrested during the AFP and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation raids in Sydney and Melbourne. The raids netted two linked groups - under surveillance through Operation Pandanus - allegedly intent on staging a terrorist attack. Apart from the supergrass's tipoffs, the arrests of the alleged cells were based on several other sources of information. They include covert surveillance and security hotline tipoffs. The supergrass was once a follower of Algerian-born Abdul Nacer Benbrika (aka Abu Bakr) and an associate of Shane Gregory Kent, both arrested in Melbourne this week on terrorist charges. He is said to have trained in Afghanistan in 2001 at an al-Qaida camp, Camp Faruq. He then returned to Australia, where he co-operated with authorities. At Camp Faruq, the supergrass met Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks, awaiting trial by US authorities, and received training in weapons, such as the AK-47 assault rifle and explosives. The AFP was told that Osama bin Laden asked him about Australia and how Muslims were treated there. The supergrass is said to have told AFP officers: "Our group had a short conversation with Osama bin Laden, during which he asked who we were and where we came from. He also asked how the Muslims in Australia were going." ASIO decryption experts are examining computers confiscated in this week's raids. They are trying to decipher codes that will reveal the identity of foreign terrorists who may have visited Australia to meet the raid suspects. NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney confirmed that overseas links were being examined. "The investigation continues, both as to those with whom they may be associated and any linkages to any other international body or group or any other individual - irrespective of where they live," Mr Moroney said. Intelligence sources said the pool of terror suspects in Australia was larger than originally expected. They said up to 30 Muslims in Sydney, many of them businessmen, were being investigated for buying chemicals that could be made into a bomb. A problem facing counter-intelligence officers trying to track terrorists is finding people close enough to the cells to spy on them. Posted by: Oztralian 2005-11-12 |
|
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=134858 |