Posted on 09/11/2005 2:00:54 PM PDT by naturalman1975
A VIDEOTAPE televised on ABC News in America, purportedly from a US-member of al-Qaeda, has threatened Melbourne and Los Angeles as their next target.
"Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne, God willing. At this time, don't count on us demonstrating restraint or compassion," the tape warns.
"We are Muslims. We love peace, but peace on our terms, peace as laid down by Islam, not the so-called peace of occupiers and dictators."
Australia's intelligence agencies were last night assessing the threat.
A spokesman for Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said US intelligence agencies contacted their Australian counterpart yesterday to warn them that the tape had been received.
Officers in the National Threat Assessment Centre in Canberra decided last night that they had insufficient information at this stage to warrant a change in the threat level, the spokesman said. But "they are not dismissing it," he said. He said the Australian agencies had not seen a copy of the tape.
Inspector Craig Walsh, of Victoria Police, said they were aware of the tape. "We are working in conjunction with our Federal and international counterparts to obtain a copy," he said. "Once obtained, the tape will need to be authenticated and its contents analysed and considered prior to making any further comment."
American intelligence officials believe the man on the tape is Adam Gadahn, of California.
Last year, Gadahn delivered a similar tape for al-Qaeda. That tape was later deemed authentic.
On the new tape, delivered to ABC News on the fourth anniversary of the September 11 bombings in the US, Gadahn's message contains a very pointed al-Qaeda threat against Los Angeles and Melbourne.
The taped message lasts 11 minutes. Like past tapes, it appears to include the same graphics and production techniques recognised by US officials as part of al-Qaeda's standard propaganda production.
Also the official city council site of the Melbourne in Florida. Interestingly it is named after the Melbourne in Australia:
http://www.melbourneflorida.org/
Is central Florida (incl Melbourne) conservative? If my memory is correct there is not much leftism over there apart from the Miami-Palm Beach-Fort Lauderdale area.
Any Florida FRers reading this?
................. http://www.theage.com.au/news/war-on-terror/melbourne-next-alqaeda-bomb-target/2005/09/12/1126377213164.html?oneclick=true................ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/09/11/state/n084745D02.DTL&feed=rss.news....................... I don't see where this clown mentioned Australia, would need to see a transcript. I doubt if he would know where Melbourne Australia actually is.
PS. I get the idea that if you chopped off their index fingers these creeps couldn't talk.
Ouch I was just reading newspaper reports.
About that creep, I personally think the best punishment for him would be to tie him up and feed him with 5 hours of Harry Potter, and then 10 hours of New Age Kumbaya. Let him sleep for 5 hours and then force him to watch 10 hours of hell-fire-brimstone Christian pastors' sermons, and then 3 hours of Hal Lindsey.
That's probably how he got to be the way he is!
Could be, but the quality looked better, and the lighting better controlled. Looked to me like something some dude shot in his garage.
So is New York. Australia took East Timor from Dar al-Islam, that's enough for bin-Laden. Now he wants a target.
Melbourne may be progressive, but it also has Australia's tallest buildings, the Rialto Towers 
which were on the al-Qaeda short list before 9/11 - I think there were 10 potential targetsa on the list.
That The Old Man of The Mountain is going to care about minor grsduations in the beliefs of infidels should only puzzle Michael Moore. Once on the target list, Melbourne is going to stay there.
This kid is a no one..They aren't going to tell you where they are really planning to hit anyway..He's some fat ass looser jerk off .Needs to be put down like a rabid dog.
Yes, I know you are right. They will never forgive us for stopping them from killing the East Timorese.
http://www.converge.org.nz/wpapua/human-rights.html
And now it's the indigenous people of Papua (snip)
THE WEST PAPUAN CASE -HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
Ever since the Indonesians set foot on Papuan soil, human rights abuses have been the rule of the day. In the antiquity or the dream time, the Indonesian quest had been Papuan slaves and the birds of paradise. Since 1962 however the quest has been for the rich mineral deposits [gold, copper, nickel, oil etc.], the vast virgin forest with its timber and the 'empty' land. The West Papuans have had to be removed from their land by hook or by crook. Political prisoners and detainees in Irian Jaya continue to be subjected to ill treatment and torture by police and military authorities, particularly in the early stages of their detention. Indonesian security forces have also been responsible for the extrajudicial execution and 'disappearances' of suspected OPM activists and sympathizers both in Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GENOCIDE
Dr. Kees Lagerberg reported that an estimated 300,000 people had disappeared without trace. This is an awful lot of people in anybody's language, but it is more horrific if one considers that the estimated population of the territory was about 700,000 in the early 1960, and about one million in the 1980's, when Dr. Lagerberg made the claim. Thus 30% of the population has simply vanished from the face of this earth. A small portion of this could be explained, the aerial bombardment claimed 80,000 lives, exile and refugees at its highest [ 1984-1985] totaled 13,000, known massacres 13,000, that totals roughly 106,000. So, where did the remainder go? If one looks at the abysmal level of health care system for the rural population, the disease statistics meager though they are, one could not help but conclude that this population is rapidly declining directly or indirectly, as the result of Government policies, therefore man made policies. At the start of the accession to power in the territory, the [Indonesian] Government Policy was to eliminate all politically literate and educated West Papuan elite, because she feared that their presence will hamper the process of Indonisation. [see the "isolated" murders, and disappearances]. The Government's Family Planning Program which stresses the policy of smaller family size also spells disaster for this Melanesian race. Therefore there is an element of urgency to stem this decline lest this ethnic Melanesian race may not survive beyond the first two decades of next century.
In this account we will list as many accounts of killings and massacres as known to us. This list is by no means complete. It is constructed from many and varied sources: published works [Books, Newspapers, Journals], verbal and written accounts and reports from relatives and friends of the victims and general observers living on the spot or itinerant travelers through the territory, during the past 30 years....read more...
Suspected terrorist names Melbourne towers as target PRINT FRIENDLY EMAIL STORY
PM Archive - Friday, 7 December , 2001 00:00:00
Reporter: Luisa Saccotelli
MARK COLVIN:The events of September the 11th seem to have moved a lot closer to home with the confirmation that a man who's named himself as a terrorist conspirator had Melbourne's Rialto Towers as a possible target.
The suspect, who's under arrest in India, underwent flight training on the outskirts of Melbourne. He entered Australia legally at the time, but now he's claiming to have links to Osama bin Laden and boasting of plans to attack the Rialto as well as targets in Britain and India.
From Melbourne, Luisa Saccotelli reports.
LUISA SACCOTELLI:Australian authorities now want to interview for themselves a Mumbai-born 28-year-old man detained in India named as Mohammed Afroz. The Prime Minister has confirmed the Muslim man said he planned to attack Melbourne's Rialto towers in the city's financial district. But he cautions the threat may never have existed.
JOHN HOWARD:You do have to allow for the fact that people will embellish and invent and exaggerate and fabricate, for whatever combination of psychological or other reasons. That is a possibility, and I'm not saying it does apply here, I don't know, but we've got to bear in mind that that is a real possibility.
LUISA SACCOTELLI:John Howard on Southern Cross radio. The Rialto towers are the tallest in the southern hemisphere and house about 10,000 office workers. Canberra's Parliament House - contrary to earlier reports - wasn't a target, and nor says the Prime Minister is there any terrorist link to emerge from a group of Middle Eastern men who trained as pilots in South Australia.
But the Mumbai suspect did learn to fly planes in Melbourne, entering the country legally in 1997 and 1998, leaving in December of that year. A former flight instructor at Moorabbin's civil flying school, who taught him, says the company was keen for overseas business. Pilot Brad Fuller says the flight school even helped fast-track his visa.
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s435325.htm
BRAD FULLER:The company had someone else employed to orchestrate the, I guess to facilitate the issue of student visas and you know get them approved to enter the country for studying purposes.
Once all of that was taken care of then, you know, our first introduction to a student as instructors would be on their first day of training where they would show up to commence their first flying lesson.
LUISA SACCOTELLI:The suspect may have ties to a mosque in the western suburbs, but Victorian Islamic Council Leader Yasser Soliman, says he hasn't been able to find anyone who knew him.
YASSER SOLIMAN:No the name that's been reported is not familiar to us. I've done some checking from the leads I've got. If a picture is published, maybe we might get some more leads, but from the information we have we don't know this person. That's not to say that he hasn't been here, but he may have been using a different name.
LUISA SACCOTELLI:Authorities are now down playing the threat. Attorney General Daryl Williams has called for calm, saying there's no known specific terrorist threat to Australia and for their part police say while they're on alert and working with other agencies doing ongoing security assessments, there's no genuine threat now.
The owners of the landmark Rialto, a major tourist attraction, say security has already been strengthened after the September 11 attacks, but they will join a new task force of Government and security forces to further guard against potential attacks.
Melbourne is the blue dot in Australia discounting the loony state of Tasmania. You bomb it out of existence and Australia will be even redder than before. (Queensland is very redneck - it is far mroe conservative than even Alberta in Canada)
Oh goody! Well I'm glad to hear that they won't put up with terrorist threats ;)
I think on a different angle, however. A terrorist attack on a redder city such as Sydney or Brisbane could actually cow a number of Australians into submission. In that case al Qaeda could look into a long term subversion strategy of Australia. But you attack Melbourne, and it will turn the ditherings among people from all other Australian centres (which are all more conservative than Melbourne politically) into conservatives. And perhaps 1/3 of Melbourne want to surrender, but the otehr 2/3 will also likewise harden towards terrorists.
In other words, al Qaeda knows nothing about strategic brilliance. It is looking at short to medium term terrorist propaganda values, but these are tactical in nature and could not help them in the long term.
(Pray that don't let this post be read by al Qaeda as tips on future actions)
Hardliners target mosques
By Barney Zwartz
Religion editor
August 3, 2005
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Hardline Muslim fundamentalists are targeting mosques, universities and high schools across Melbourne in a battle for the hearts and minds of local Muslim youth.
Mainstream Muslim leaders have identified three groups operating in Melbourne promoting radical forms of Islam and who they fear may turn rhetoric into violence.
One of the groups is building a mosque in Broadmeadows, another is a radical group of young Bosnians loosely attached to high-profile radical cleric Mohammed Omran, and the other comprises local members of the radical international political organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir.
One Muslim leader warned that some more extreme elements had left Sheikh Omran's group, claiming it was not radical enough. These were mostly Arabs, Algerians and Somalis.
Another political leader told The Age that radicals were causing problems and grief at mosques across Melbourne. "They are trying to take over executives, pamphleting, trying to recruit outside mosques," he said. "They are full of vitriol and poisonous rhetoric, and see the rest of Islam as corrupted."
Several local mosques have succumbed to the radicals in recent years, including Preston mosque, one of Melbourne's most prominent.
The Broadmeadows group, now building a mosque on Camp Road, was among those accused of manipulating an election to gain power at Preston in the 1990s.
Leaders of other suburban mosques say they continually have to fend off attempts by hardliners to take control.
Three weeks ago members of one of Sheikh Omran's groups, the Islamic Information and Support Centre of Australia, were asked to leave the Doncaster mosque after distributing leaflets to members as they came to pray, according to the mosque's secretary, Rahil Khan. "We are very, very strict on that, based on experience," he said.
The Bosnian mosque in Noble Park took out an intervention order against members of the same group in 2000 after disturbances prompted by radicals handing out leaflets, books and videos preaching hatred against the West.
Imam Ibrahim of the Noble Park mosque said: "They are hardliners. They tried every mosque, but it depends on the imam. If he is strong and stable and has followers, there is no problem."
The hardliners - estimated to make up about 5 per cent of Melbourne's Muslims - follow the Wahhabi teaching, the most restrictive version of Islam, which has made huge advances around the world in the past two decades, backed by billions of Saudi Arabian dollars.
At Preston, the radicals engineered an election and amended the constitution in the 1990s while the imam, Sheikh Fehmi el-Naji, was away on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Supporters of Sheikh Fehmi, Melbourne's most prominent imam, worked hard over the next decade to regain ground, and members say there is now an uneasy balance.
But Sheikh Omran claims his supporters still control Preston mosque. "Nothing has changed since that day," he told The Age.
Of the wider cultural war among Melbourne's Muslims, Sheikh Omran said: "I would say I'm winning. The Muslims are winning, and Islam in the end. Our message is winning hearts."
But Sheikh Omran - who has claimed that the Americans, not Osama bin Laden, might have been behind the September 11 attacks on America, and that the London bombings were not done by Muslims - said he did not support terrorism.
Sheikh Fehmi said of the Preston struggle: "There was antagonism, they tried everything, but we are standing on our feet." He said Sheikh Omran was bringing Muslims into disrepute in Australia. "Omran's opinions - I wouldn't call it teachings - he does not realise what he is doing, where he is living."
Concern that hardliners had succeeded in spreading their message to disaffected young men and converts was behind last week's plea from the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils to Muslim leaders and imams to do more to fight extremism.
One community leader said the radicals were targeting young people in high schools and universities and splitting families.
An imam said radical youths spoke to people coming to pray. "They tell them there's an attack on Muslims everywhere and a violent response is needed. If it's public, these guys are shouted down and kicked out. But if it's a conversation between two people who happen to be praying and one is an agitator, that's more sinister," he said.
Few leaders were willing to be named. One said: "A lot of people are scared of these people. The same sect is blowing places up around the world, and it wouldn't be too difficult here."
A Federal Government spokeswoman last night said that ASIO was monitoring groups, such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, which espoused extremist rhetoric and was known to have called for attacks overseas. However, the group was not known to have planned or conducted violent acts in Australia and had not been banned here.
She said ASIO monitored people and groups on the basis of terrorist links, not because of their membership of a particular community or religious group. "Wahhabism is a conservative form of Islam and is not in itself of concern to ASIO," she said.
- with Ian Munro
http://www.theage.com.au/news/war-on-terror/hardliners-target-mosques/2005/08/02/1122748639592.html?from=moreStories&oneclick=true
(Last I heard there are some 350.000 muslims in Oz - and don't you just love the way they get along? )
The lessons of London taught me even many of the non-radicals can't be trusted either.
The 'moderate' is nothing but the Trojan Horse.
Hey! I live here. And I'd rather not see it blown up!
More seriously - yes, the general political makeup of Melbourne is more left wing that other Australian capital cities certainly - but a significant proportion of Australia's conservative establishment are active here - those who were educated in the APS are generally conservative (even the Labor Party members among them are conservative on many issues) and we have influence. Numbers aren't everything - quite small groups in the right places can have a lot of influence even surrounded by large numbers of lefties.
In many ways, Melbourne is a conservative city that just happens to have a lot of lefties living in it.
Thanks. I must have read too many Paddy McGuinness articles and the way he describes Melbourne politically (that it is more similar to NZ than Sydney) leaves the city a lot to be desired. This is reinforced by many who compare Melbourne with Toronto in Canada, which from my personal experience is solidly left-leaning. I know you and Aussie Dasher are from Melbourne, and Silent Running's Australian-based bloggers are from Melbourne as well so there must be many conservatives.
In fact, politics aside I always like Melbourne more. Is it true that Sydney is more politically conservative than Melbourne?
So what is the target in LA?
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