Thwarted Terorist Attack in Australia - Large Scale
 

Thwarted Terorist Attack in Australia - Large Scale
Sorry if already posted... bit scary for my friends/webmasters in Australia.

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Large scale terror attack foiled
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/st...001021,00.html

November 08, 2005

POLICE say they have foiled a large scale terrorist attack in Australia following the arrest of at least 17 people in raids in Sydney and Melbourne early today.

Nine people in Melbourne and eight in Sydney were arrested as hundreds of ASIO, Australian Federal Police and state police officers swooped on homes in the two cities, police said.

In western Sydney, a man was shot and wounded by police.

However police would not immediately confirm the shooting was linked to the raids, which got under way in Sydney and Melbourne simultaneously about 2.30am (AEDT) and continued late this morning.

The man shot by police in Sydney's Green Valley just before 9am (AEDT) was taken to Liverpool Hospital with a serious wound to his upper body, but no further details were immediately available.



The raids were the culmination of a 16-month operation and the suspects in Melbourne and Sydney were alleged to be working together, police said.

NSW Premier Morris Iemma said it was alleged the group in Sydney was stockpiling chemicals capable of making explosives and that they were believed to be planning a terrorist attack in Australia.

Substances believed to be chemicals had been seized in Sydney by officers wearing protective clothing, police said.

Those arrested were due to appear in court in Melbourne and Sydney today, on federal and state charges.

Police said they would oppose bail.

"I'm satisfied that we have disrupted what I would regard as the final stages of a large scale terrorist attack ... here in Australia," said NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney told ABC radio.

Police had not identified any targets.

"We believe ... that we've disrupted a large scale operation which, had it been allowed to go through to fruition, we certainly believe would have been catastrophic," Mr Moroney told the Nine Network.

Victorian Premier Steve Bracks said he believed police had disrupted "probably the most serious preparation for a terrorist attack that we have seen in Australia".

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon said there was no specific target in Melbourne, and ruled out a link to any threats against next year's Commonwealth Games.

But she said the raids were directly related to Prime Minister John Howard's announcement last week of a possible terrorist threat believed to involve potential Australian targets.

"It's the largest operation of counter-terrorism that's ever been conducted in this country and it's taken us a long period of time," she said.

Senior police said while last week's federal amendments to anti-terror legislation had been a help, the raids would have taken place anyway.

Police said the raids in Sydney targeted homes in south western suburbs including Wiley Park, while in Melbourne homes were raided in suburbs including Preston, Dallas, Hoppers Crossing, Fawkner, Hadfield, Coburg and Yarraville and Meadow Heights.

Those arrested in Melbourne faced charges included intentionally being a member of a terrorist organisation and intentionally directing the activities of a terrorist organisation, Australian Federal Police said.

It was not yet clear what charges those arrested in Sydney faced.

At least five of those arrested in Sydney were Australian citizens.

Alleging a link between the Sydney and Melbourne arrests, Mr Moroney said: "We will certainly be presenting matters before the court today which we will seek to establish links between both groups."

One of the nine arrested in Melbourne was the outspoken Melbourne Muslim cleric Abu Bakr (Bakr), said his lawyer Rob Stary.

Abu Bakr was among the radical Islamic clerics excluded by Prime Minister John Howard from a recent summit on religious violence.

Mr Stary said the nine men, including Bakr, had been charged with being members of a proscribed organisation under anti-terrorism legislation.

The group had not been specified by authorities, he said.

"They are not charged with being involved in the planning or preparation (of a terrorist act) ... they are charged with a membership offence only," he said.

"They are the only charges.

Nor had any materials been seized in Melbourne that indicated the nine were about to launch a terrorist strike, Mr Stary said.

Mr Stary said some of those arrested in Melbourne had been targeted by ASIO raids in June.

Mr Moroney drew comparisons with anti-terror operation in London and Madrid, which he said took place after attacks took place.

Police in Australia had taken pre-emptive action, he said.

"We were not prepared to wait for an event to happen." Mr Moroney said.

Prime Minister John Howard last week announced there was a potential terrorist threat, saying he had received intelligence indicating an attack on Australia was possible.

The threat was believed to involve people in Melbourne and Sydney, and an urgent amendment to existing anti-terrorism laws which gave police greater powers to arrest terrorist suspects was rushed through parliament as a result.

Makes you wonder where the safest place to live is these days.

Good shit. The governments of the world know a lot more than people think...

Canada or Alaska.

Canada - puh-leeze - Canada put its tail between its legs as usual after 9/11 but believe me they are on the ragheads' shit list as well.

Hawaii without a doubt. It's not only hundreds of miles from any major land, its the largest military installation in the United States and a lot of foreigners don't even know its part of the U.S.

allah akabar

really? :upsidedow they don't know? I find that hard to believe... very... even i learned that 4 or 5 years ago. :1orglaugh

And a hurricane destroyed it once...

Doesn't justify the bullshit anti-terror laws that howard railroaded in.

South Island of New Zealand - 600,000 people on a bit of land the size of England.

They could drop a Nuke and be lucky if they hit anyone at all.

There is no safe place to live.

Canada supported and participated in the invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11

Americans link Iraq with 9.11. :winkwink:

Maybe that Self proclaimed Al-Qaeda guy from Cali was right after all. I think he said the next target was going to be Australia.

Tell that to the families of the Canadian soldiers who were accidentally killed by Americans while supporting America in Afghanistan after 9/11

http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanista...686915,00.html

Yes, because in war there is no such thing as friendly fire. It's all a big scary myth.

Hurricanes, Tsunamis, Volcanoes, And lest not forget WWII.

what a load of shit. Perfectly timed to take the heat off the government over their IR changes and as justification for new terrorist laws they shunted through parliament last week.. It was obviously so top secret the Prime Minister told the nation last week they were going to raid people and gave them 4-5 days warning. No chemicals no nothing.

"It is hard to see how the proposed new laws -- with their "control orders", "sedition" clauses designed to silence dissent, and long-term detention without charge -- would have assisted authorities in today's welcome operation.

It is hard to see how laws designed to suppress the free speech of ordinary citizens and restrict the ability of the media to report on terrorism issues would have aid today's operation. And it is hard to see how the effective suspension of habeas corpus -- the rule of law requiring someone to be presented in court before detention -- would have made a difference to the raids.

The amendments that parliament passed last week were, on the face of it, designed to protect Australian democracy from terrorist attack. The laws awaiting passage would alter the very character of the democracy."

Don't get me wrong it's a good thing ASIO is onto these fuckers.. But don't fall for the hype and political spin. They didn't smash a terrorist ring with half made pipe bombs in their living rooms. They did however shoot a guy with a backpack on.. lets hope he was actually carrying evidence and wasn't like that poor british fucker.
Also it's a bit naive to be surprised at potential terrorists being found here.. We did take part in the Iraq war as a major player (in so far as the minisculely smaller partners could be) and we have had two Bali bombings on our door step targetting us.

What part of "accidentally killed" don't you understand? I never said it wasn't friendly fire.

NZ Super Volcanoes... my vote is Tasmania.

New Zealand has earthquakes.

Also, you would live in constant danger of your eyes being pecked out by a kiwi. :uhoh

Not on the South Island, the active volcanoes are up north - Quakes could be a problem though.

lol - yep they are famous for that. :1orglaugh

In fact the biggest danger if they dropped a Nuke on NZ would be that if the wind was blowing in the right direction half the world would suffer a sudden and unexplained craving for roast lamb.

and tsunamis.. in fact the east coast of oz here is in danger of your crappy earthquakes giving us tsunamis. :(.

west tasmania is the gear.. in 50 years it will be nice and balmy with global warming.. and it has the highest rainfall in oz as well as being protected from tsunamis etc :)

Ft. Hood, Texas is the largest military installation.

Russia is looking pretty safe right now.

now let me guess, they want to pass a law where you can be detained fo 3 days without a phone call, you can be tortured in the name of 'this country peoples' safety' etc?

pretty much. Plus sedition laws limiting free speech. Like calling the Iraqi insurgents freedom fighters and asking people to understand why Australia was wrong to invade Iraq and understand the insurgent's position will get you for being seditious.

Dictionaries define sedition as conduct or language inciting rebellion against the government. As a criminal offence it has a long and dishonourable history as a means of shutting down political dissent, back in the Cold War and before.

It will be great not being able to:
"urge disaffection against the constitution, the Government of the Commonwealth, either House of Parliament"

oo fuck.. better not comment on how fucked up the Howard Government is.. and how it's not fostering a police state at all.. fucking fear mongering cock holsters.

If it's fate, then danger and accidents will happen wherever you may be.

Look I'm not against deporting fundamentalist clerics that weren't born here or aren't Australian citizens and talk about the destruction of the west... I mean seriously.. fuck them - go home and fuck sand. But I'm also not against deporting American evangelists railing against western way of life either and triyng to infect Australia with their fundamentalism.
But they don't need these laws to do that. These laws don't help prevent terrorism which is the only fucking thing we need to do. These laws affect everyone, not just felafel-eating jihad monkeys.

bhutocracy is right in my opinion. This is a well timed ploy by Howard as usually. He is really a great politician, you can't take it from him. He is a cocksucker, but he really knows how to get what he wants done, and he knows how to push the right buttons to make sure it happens. No doubt the charges are legitimate, but the wording 'the last stages of a major terrorist attack' sound like nicely spun bullshit to me.

fuck off with your banal bullshit you cocksucking sig whore fuck.

"oo fuck.. better not comment on how fucked up the Howard Government is.. and how it's not fostering a police state at all.. fucking fear mongering cock holsters."

i thought your first 2 posts were stupid......but this takes the cake. Talk about jumping on the band wagon. I bet you go to university protests and cry how much john howard has fucked up this country.....FACT australia is in the best shapes its been in for a very long time. FACT the IR reforms will allow the australian economy to grow even more and create more jobs....These days terrorist are a big problem, look at bali again, indonesia etc.....i dont mind giving up a little privacy or freedom so i can avoid going to a family members funeral or a friends due to some dickhead trying to destory anyone's life who doesnt follow the almight word of Alah...You sound like a dickhead......

Yeah for all his faults, and my desire to see someone smack that smug shit eating grin off his face.. he's a political master who's actions will be studied for decades to come as the consumate manipulator.
I'm quite sure the guys deserved to get arrested. But if you look at what they are saying "we believe they were looking to start stockpiling chemical weapons" it's pretty obvious they were all talk no action. Even though of course that could have done something in the future I believe it's mainly spin and OH SO CONVENIENT timing.

ugh.. seeing Downer Syndrome on the news last night trying to tell us the pirate attack on the cruise ship was terrorism just in case we forgot for a single second to be afraid of the terrorists under the bed was almost too much.

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/..._470x292,0.jpg

And you sound like a moron that doen't deserve freedom.
Bandwagon? what being critical of laws curbing freedom of speech is a bandwagon now instead of a normal reaction to the erosion of your rights?
It's a word fucktards use when they have nothing better to say but need to nonetheless denigrate a position.

And for the record the IR laws are FUCKED for the working class and everyone knows it, thats why there is no support for it.. and even 50 million dollars of ad campaigns didn't shift the public support more than 1%
If the country is in the best shape it's been then it's also because of the good IR system we have. You can't have it both ways.
To use Howard's own Monarchist's argument : "If it ain't broke"

I am an EMPLOYER, a homeowner and in the top tax bracket.. I just happen to not be a greedy bastard that only supports thing that benefit me financially. Unlike you however I'm not a moron who falls for 50 million dollars of government propaganda and doesn't really have much to say .

"seeing Downer Syndrome on the news last night trying to tell us the pirate attack on the cruise ship was terrorism just in case we forgot for a single second to be afraid of the terrorists under the bed was almost too much."

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorist


they dont have to be riding a camel screaming "praise be to allah" to be a terrorist....im not a fan of downer either but i am a fan of the current government. They are taking this country in the right direction, like it or not.

Yeah we totally put our tail between our legs when we sent troops to Afghanistan. Idiot.

Don't feign stupidity. You KNOW what Downer meant. Otherwise I can call the guy that robs me a terrorist for using violence to get what he wants.
There is a massive difference between pirates and terrorists.

If you consider the right direction to be where people are more concerned about interest rates on their homeloans than the wellbeing of society then enjoy it. I've never seen Australians so uncaring, wedged and out for themselves than they are right now. Part of me enjoys watching people hurt themselves with their own stupidity.. It doesn't effect me, my tax rates just get lower and lower at everyone else's expense. It's like getting stupid people to give me their money. It certainly softens the blow of Australia leaving it's "fair go" "equality" roots in absolute totality.
I hope the IR laws soften further, I'm going to refuse to hire Liberal voters if the anti-discrimination legislation ever gets bypassed.