Australian authorities believe they have foiled a major terrorist attack after arresting 17 people in overnight raids on homes in the country’s two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne.
The arrests come less than a week after Prime Minister John Howard said he had received intelligence about a ”terrorist threat” to Australia.
Nine were arrested in Melbourne, including Abu Bakr, a radical cleric who has praised Osama bin Laden, while eight were held in Sydney in raids that began at 2.30am. At least 400 officers, combining federal agents and state police in New South Wales and Victoria, took part. The suspects had allegedly stockpiled material for a chemical attack, possibly on a railway station in either Sydney or Melbourne.
Australia’s Sky News reported that one suspect who had been under surveillance was shot and wounded by police involved in the raids. Police did not immediately confirm the man was a terror suspect
Ken Moroney, the New South Wales police Commissioner, said that the suspects had been under surveillance for 18 months and were in the final stages of planning an attack.
”We believe we’ve disrupted a large-scale operation which, had it been allowed to go through to fruition, we certainly believe would have been catastrophic,” he told local television.
Christine Nixon, Victoria’s police Commissioner, said the raids were directly related to a warning last week by Howard of a specific terrorist attack. She said that next year’s Commonwealth Games in Melbourne were not a target.
”They have been charged with a range of offences, both state and federal offences,” she said.
Australia has never suffered a major peacetime attack on home soil, but the country has been on medium security alert since shortly after the September 11 2001 attacks on the United States.
Last week, Howard’s Liberal-National coalition government passed an urgent amendment to anti-terrorism laws, making it easier for police to arrest suspects believed to be in the early stages of planning an attack, even if no specific target for the attack is known.
The legislation prompted speculation that police would move against suspects in Sydney and Melbourne who were understood to have carried out surveillance on targets such as the Sydney Opera House and Harbour bridge, and railway stations and the stock exchange in Melbourne.
Opposition parties — Labour, the Democrats and the Greens — have accused the government of playing politics with national security and trying to scare Australians.
But the federal treasurer, Peter Costello, told ABC Radio: ”This does really illustrate that the threat of terrorism is real, that we cannot be complacent about it. It’s no consolation to wait until after an event and then try and pick up the suspects.”
All those arrested in the largest anti-terror activity ever seen in Australia were expected to face court later in the day. Charges included membership of a terrorist organisation and directing the activities of a terrorist organisation.
A Melbourne lawyer, Rob Stary, said he represented eight people arrested in the city, most of whom he said had been charged with being members of a banned organisation. They included Abu Bakr, also known as Abdul Nacer Benbrika.
”This is important — they’re not charged with any covert conduct,” Stary said. ”In other words, they’re not charged with engaging in planning or preparation of any terrorist offence; they’re simply charged with membership offences.”
Bakr is a dual Algerian and Australian citizen who has lived in Melbourne’s northern suburbs since 1989. He made headlines last August when he stated publicly in an interview his support for Osama bin Laden. At the time, he denied being involved in any terrorist activities but told Australia’s ABC Radio that he was a supporter of the al-Qaeda leader.
Keysar Trad, a spokesperson for the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, said sections of the media had known in advance of the anti-terror raids.
Howard and the state Labour premiers in New South Wales, Morris Iemma, and Victoria, Steve Bracks, were due to address the public later on Tuesday morning. — Guardian Unlimited Â