Posted on 04/23/2004 5:36:10 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
SYDNEY: A Pakistani-born architect charged with planning a terrorist attack in Australia planned to disrupt the national electricity grid with a home-made bomb, it was reported Friday.
The Australian newspaper said Faheem Khalid Lodhi, 34, planned to use a bomb made of ammonium nitrate fertilizer to attack the electricity grid and was in the process of ordering the chemicals required under bogus company names.
Lodhi was charged with terrorist offences Thursday after being arrested in a raid by federal agents following a six-month investigation and faces a life sentece if convicted.
The Australian said Lodhi used a fake name to order maps of the grid from the Electricity Suppliers Association, the newspaper said. Police also allege he dumped maps of military installations in a garbage bin near his Sydney house.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Lodhi hoped to attack the electricty grid in Sydney, causing a blackout that would spark chaos.
Lohdi is the second suspected member of the same terrorist cell arrested in a week after 21-year-old Pakistani-born medical student Izhar ul-Haque was charged Thursday.
Both Loghi and Haque were arrested as a result of investigations into terrorist suspect Willie Brigitte, a French national who was deported from Australia late last year and is being held by authorities in France who believe he was setting up a terrorist cell in Sydney.
A leaked French intelligence dossier has accused Brigitte of planning an attack "of great size" in Australia.
Both Brigitte and Haque allegedly have links to Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the Australian government officially declared a terrorist organisation last November.
The French dossier named Lodhi, also known as Abu Hamza, as Lashkar's chief operative in Australia and alleged he underwent training in Pakistan with Brigitte and acted as the Frenchman's main Sydney contact.
The Australian reported that telephone records showed Lodhi had been in frequent contact with a Pakistani-based Lashkar trainer called Sajid, who Brigitte told French authorities was the man who organised and paid for his trip to Australia.
New South Wales state Premier Bob Carr said security around the state's power infrastructure had been upgraded ahead of the 2000 Olympics and further tightened following the September 11 2001 attacks on the United States and the October 2002 Bali bombings.
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said further arrests could follow. He said the investigation showed Australia's intelligence services were working together efficiently.
US thinktank the Rand Corporation this week issued a report alleging Australia's domestic spy service ASIO was so jealous of the Australian Federal Police that it withheld vital security information.
- AFP
Lohdi is the second suspected member of the same terrorist cell arrested in a week after 21-year-old Pakistani-born medical student Izhar ul-Haque was charged Thursday
Ain't diversity through immigration grand?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.