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Private army guards Aussie terror target
A millionaire Australian businessman who was the target of an al-Qaida assassination plot has turned his home into a fortress with levels of security usually reserved for heads of state. Joe Gutnick, one of Australiaâs richest men and a former president of Melbourne Football Club, has employed a small army of former police and special forces soldiers to protect him. During the trial of Jack Roche â a Muslim convert sentenced this week by a Perth court for terrorist offences â it emerged that Mr Gutnick was on an al-Qaida hit list because of his involvement with Zionist causes. He said yesterday he lived under constant protection after being told by Australian Federal Police he was a target. Police kept him informed of the level of security threat. "At times of serious security scares I have many bodyguards and many security guards watching the house," he said. Mr Gutnick, 51, would not comment on claims his security men and bodyguards were armed. "Iâd rather not discuss the issue," he said. "Some are former federal police and some former police. There have been a few from the SAS. They are quite capable of dealing with a Roche-type individual." Speaking on the telephone from Canada, Mr Gutnick, an Orthodox rabbi, said he was very frightened when he learned he had been singled out as a target by a man named Abu Hafs, identified during Rocheâs trial as the al-Qaida second-in-command. Police told him of a plan to bomb his house, synagogue or company offices in St Kilda, Melbourne. "What worried me more was in the court case when my name was brought up by the al-Qaida leaders," Mr Gutnick said. "They singled me out. That worried me more than Roche. Being a target of senior al- Qaida people is enough to scare anybody." Mr Gutnick, who made his money in gold and diamond mining, is married with 11 children. He said he left Melbourne Football Club in 2001 to become less high-profile, but continued his support for Jewish causes. "That (giving up Jewish support) would mean terrorists had won the battle," he said. "I am a great supporter of Israel. I have given millions." Two senior al-Qaida operatives named as Abu Hafs and Saif asked Roche at a meeting in the Afghan city of Kandahar to collect information on Mr Gutnick and spy on the Israeli embassy in Canberra, which al-Qaida planned to blow up. Roche said in a videotaped interview with AFP officers: "I think the idea as far as the Israeli Government interests were concerned was to detonate the bomb, or in the case of being an individual like Joe Gutnick, to assassinate him." Abu Hafs also suggested kidnapping Mr Gutnik and holding him for ransom. Roche wrote Mr Gutnickâs name in a notebook later read to Perth District Court. Mr Gutnick said the sentence handed down to Roche â under which he could walk free in three years â was too lenient and not an adequate deterrent. "I think itâs just outrageous," he said. "Iâve been told by quite senior people that if something like that happened in the United States the guy wouldnât get less than 20 years, especially now that weâre in a world-wide war against terrorism. "After what happened to Australia in Bali, and what could potentially happen to Australia because of our involvement in Iraq, itâs quite bizarre that if someone is caught and pleads guilty to wanting to kill tens of innocent people and blow up an embassy that there should be such a soft punishment." Posted by: TS(vice girl) 2004-06-07 |
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