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Government made mistake leaving Hicks, Habib overseas: "Expert"
An international expert on terrorism believes the Federal Government has made a significant error of judgement by not seeking the return of Australian detainees in Guantanamo Bay. Dr Rohan Gunaratna, who is the head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore, is the keynote speaker at an emergency medicine conference in Adelaide today. He says Australian intelligence agencies would have gained more from the return to Australia of Al Qaeda suspects David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib than they have by keeping the suspects detained overseas for an unspecified period. "An Australian who is trained in a terrorist training camp is a risk to Australia," he said. "It is the duty and the responsibility of the Australian Government to bring them home to ensure that they develop a good idea, a solid understanding of the terrorist organisations overseas." Dr Gunaratana believes that a terrorist attack on Australian soil is inevitable. He says Australia appears to be experiencing the same pattern of terrorist attacks as the United States experienced before the devastating September 11 attacks."If you look at the Al Qaeda trajectory of attacks, first they attack the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, then they attacked the USS Cole and then they did 9/11 on American soil," he said. "It should be very clear that the terrorist groups operating in your immediate neighbourhood of South East Asia have no love for Australia but will attack your country eventually." He says Australia remains vulnerable to further attacks because of its close association with the United States, despite efforts after the Bali bombing to curtail such threats."Australia has significantly improved their capabilities to better manage the threat," Dr Gunaratana said. "However, the threat of terrorism has grown very significantly especially after the US invasion of Iraq." Posted by: God Save The World 2004-11-22 |
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