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| Down Under | |
| America names 23 Australians as terrorist suspects | |
| 2010-12-06 | |
| US INTELLIGENCE agencies have blacklisted 23 Australians in Yemen suspected of terrorist links, as Barack Obama's counterterrorism chief warns that the world must confront al-Qaeda fighters in Yemen. A diplomatic cable from the US embassy in Sanaa, leaked to WikiLeaks, lists the names and birth dates of 23 Australians thought to have connections to the group ''al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula''. Some names have been added to a US list banning them from commercial flights. The rest are to be closely monitored by US spy agencies. The cable, sent last January, has not been made public but the contents, excluding the personal details - have been reported by The New York Times, one of several news outlets granted access to the cables.
The top White House counterterrorism adviser Daniel Benjamin yesterday said Yemen was a big recruiting ground for al-Qaeda, especially for people holding Western passports. ''There are individuals from many countries around the world who have made their way to Yemen,'' he said. ''Many of them did so fairly innocently - to acquire for example Arabic language training or other schooling - who have been radicalised.'' Mr Benjamin said concern about Yemen had increased in March last year and was confirmed by recent plots emanating from the country, including one to destroy a passenger jet over Detroit on Christmas Day and bombs posted to the US. He said Yemen had significant problems, including an exploding population growth, the exhaustion of natural resources and a depleted water table. Local al-Qaeda affiliates were the most aggressive beyond the terrorist leaders in the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Australia has sharpened its focus on Yemen and recently declared al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula a proscribed organisation. Many of the Australians listed in the cable were women, The New York Times said, with al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen seeking ''to identify a female for a future attack''. | |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #4 Some background here. |
| Posted by: tipper 2010-12-06 21:30 |
| #3 'There are individuals from many countries around the world who have made their way to Yemen,'' he said. ''Many of them did so fairly innocently - to acquire for example Arabic language training or other schooling - who have been radicalised.'' Hmm when I took Italian classes in Florence the most radical thing I developed was a taste for good food. Must be the water in Yemen. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2010-12-06 12:39 |
| #2 Really, it's time to be FAIR and just put evenly the names of Christian on the list since to do so would be discriminatory. |
| Posted by: jack salami 2010-12-06 09:21 |
| #1 That would be Bruce, and Mick, and ..., right? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2010-12-06 08:52 |