Terror link to radical sheiks [ From Oz]

[Neil D]

Cameron Stewart

November 10, 2005

CLOSE links have emerged between Australia's most radical prayer halls and the alleged terror cells in Melbourne and Sydney amid calls for Islamic clerics to abandon their inflammatory rhetoric.

The Australian has learned that at least six of the nine men charged with terror-related offences in Melbourne this week are, or were, devotees of controversial Melbourne cleric Sheik Mohammed Omran and his group, the Ahlus Sunnah Wal-Jamaah Association.

One of them, Adbulla Merhi, who is alleged to have been impatient to carry out Australia's first suicide bombing, has an article on the group's website in which he urges Muslims to stand up for their rights and never "compromise our religion".

The accused men have, until recently, attended prayers at Sheik Omran's Brunswick prayer hall in Melbourne's north, despite also being devotees of another radical cleric, Abdul Nacer Benbrika. The Austrailian

[:"blue"] So, Ozzies, whatcha think about this article? [/]

[Nan]

The whole issue has been the main focus of the news here for the last couple of days. In the culmination of an 18 month operation, police in Sydney and Melbourne raided houses at about 2 am and arrested a number of individuals - as per the article. We have a significant number of people of Lebanese descent living here, most of those arrested come from that group although at least one Anglo Australian who has converted to Islam is included.

This last couple of weeks, the government has been trying to introduce some industrial reform legislation which has many critics. When the Prime Minister announced last week there was an imminent terror threat in this country, and recalled parliament to make urgent amendments to the new terror legislation, many people thought he was deflecting attention from the other matter. The security forces were annoyed as they saw the announcement as jeopardising their work.

Once the raids happened it appears to justify everybody - but there are still a few sceptics out there. I do not think I am one of them, this country was never going to be immune from the terror threat, especially given our involvement in wars in Muslim countries.

[aldona]

A huge anti-terrorist operation which has been under way for 18 months...which has been top secret...and on the day these houses in Melbourne and Sydney are raided and 16 men arrested, the media is there to film it all unfolding?

And at the same time that the new "anti-terrorist" laws are being debated in Parliament?

And just a week after Prime Minister Howard's "credible terrorist threat" which was so serious that the new laws had to be rushed through as soon as possible, but not so serious that the official national terrorist alert level was increased, and not serious enough to disrupt the Melbourne Cup public holiday?

I'm sorry, but something about this whole matter just fails the "smell" test... <img src="/ubbtreads/images/graemlins/icon_smile_sick.gif" alt="" />

(and another point: if these terrorist suspects could be rounded up, arrested and charged so successfully under the old laws, why do we need the new "laws"?)

It just doesn't add up...

aldona