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Aussies let Atrik visit dying brother
Australian authorities let down their normally draconian guard against suspected Muslim terrorists over the weekend to allow one man jailed for allegedly plotting a major bombing leave prison for a final visit with his dying brother, police said yesterday.Police said Izzydeen Atik was released under guard from a high security prison in Melbourne on Friday and flown in a chartered plane to Sydney to say goodbye to his brother Merhy, who is dying from liver disease and organ failure. Atik, 25, was back in his jail cell last night, the Australian Federal Police said in a statement. A Melbourne magistrate, Paul Smith, ordered Atik released on bail on Friday in a humanitarian gesture. Australias two major commercial airlines refused to let Atik fly on their aircraft accompanied by police guards, so the government used chartered flights at a total cost of A$8,000 ($6,000), the national news agency AAP reported. Atik was one of 18 Muslims arrested in Sydney and Melbourne in November in the largest counter-terrorism operation ever carried out in Australia. The men were charged with involvement in a terrorist organisation and plots to carry out major bomb attacks in the country. The men, and three other Muslims arrested in late March, have been linked by police to a radical Muslim cleric, Abdul Nacer Benbrika, who allegedly preached violent jihad against Australia until his arrest in November. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-05-08 |
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