THE Australian mother whose two sons are in a Yemeni jail on terrorist charges was suspected of being involved in a Jemaah Islamiah plot to attack the Sydney Olympics. The Daily Telegraph understands Rabiah Hutchison, reportedly a former Mudgee dope-smoking hippie and now a radical Muslim who wears a burqa, was married to Indonesian Abdul Rahim Ayub. | Rabiah Hutchison, reportedly a former Mudgee dope-smoking hippie and now a radical Muslim who wears a burqa, was married to Indonesian Abdul Rahim Ayub. |
Ms Hutchison was well known to security organisations in the region. Her lawyer, Adam Houda, said yesterday she was concerned about the health and welfare of her sons, Mohammed Ayub and Abdullah Ayub, whom she was with in Yemen. Mr Houda said he was briefing lawyers in the Gulf state because he had not been able to contact the young men, aged 18 and 20, in prison in the capital Sanaa.
| The mother-in-law of one of the young men yesterday took stress leave from her teaching job at a private Sydney Islamic school, concerned for the future of her daughter and grandchildren, also in Yemen. |
Their father Abdul Rahim and his twin brother moved throughout suburban Sydney, Melbourne and Perth in the late 1990s, drawing together radical Muslims. Abdul Rahman joined his brother in Australia in December 1997 and applied for refugee status, which was refused. When their plan to take control of the mosque at Dee Why was defeated by moderate Muslims, they moved to Sydney and Perth, mixing with Jihad Jack Thomas and Jack Roche. Thomas told the ABC's Four Corners program he attended a bush camp organised by the brothers for "jihad training".
Abdul Rahman was deported from Perth in 1999. In February 2000, Abdul Rahim sent Jack Roche, Australia's only convicted terrorist, to visit JI mastermind Hambali, said to be behind the deadly 2002 Bali bombings. Abdul Rahim fled Australia three days after the bombings, which he is suspected of being involved in.