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| Down Under |
| Australia keeping tabs on 6 hard boyz |
| 2005-11-04 |
| AT least six people suspected of planning a Sydney terror attack are under surveillance. One of the suspects was the part-owner of a property in country NSW raided by police and spy agencies before the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Security sources have described the property as having all the signs of being a terrorist training camp after neighbours alerted police to automatic weapons being fired. The Middle Eastern father of two furiously denied his farm was being used to train terrorists. No arrests were made but it is believed Operation Pandanus has shifted ASIO's attention back to the man's activities in the past 12 months. The man has lived on a secluded property in a Sydney suburb with his wife and two children for at least three years. He is rarely seen in the street. There was no sign at the home yesterday of ASIO or AFP agents, who were expected to begin raids after Prime Minister John Howard warned of a direct terrorist threat and rushed through legislation to assist arrests. The Saturday Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday that home-grown terror cells had been stockpiling explosives and other material ahead of possible attacks on sites such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Kurnell oil refinery and Melbourne Stock Exchange. Armed agents are understood to be ready to swoop once the green light is given by authorities. Prime Minister John Howard yesterday refused to give more information about the threat for fear he could jeopardise police and ASIO operations. "It should not be assumed there are going to be arrests. Whether there are arrests is a matter for police," he said. "We are kept informed if anything in particular is going to occur." Mr Howard said security agencies knew much more than they did six months ago about people in Australia who want to inflict harm here or support terrorist attacks overseas. "There have been people in our community for some time who would want to do harm, who were pleased about the terrorist attacks in Bali and in London and pleased about some of the terrorist attacks elsewhere in the world," Mr Howard said. "They have been within our community for some time – a tiny minority. The authorities have a greater understanding of what people are about now than what they did six months ago." Mr Howard said he faced a dilemma in signalling to the Australian public that there was a specific terror threat but denied he was playing politics. Terrorism expert Clive Williams said yesterday the fact the threat level had not been changed to "high" meant an immediate attack was unlikely. "Otherwise the threat level would change," Mr Williams said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |