Free Republic

SO it wasn't a political stunt. It isn't about Iraq. And the threat of Islamist terror right here is more real than many pretend. How real? If the police are right, they have saved scores of you from being blown up -- as people in Madrid and London were blown up. As NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney put it, the arrest yesterday of 17 Muslim men disrupted "the final stages of a large-scale terrorist attack". He said explosive material had already been collected. Yet only last week, Prime Minister John Howard was pilloried by many for having warned of an...

A SYDNEY man allegedly telephoned the suspected leader of al-Qa'ida in Spain – Abu Dahdah – seeking help to move a "brother" and his family throughout Europe. The allegation about former Qantas baggage handler Bilal Khazal – made in documents tendered in Mr Dahdah's terrorism trial – contradicts claims by him that he had never spoken to the alleged terror chief, or even knew who he was. As more details of a network of alleged terror supporters in Australia emerged yesterday, it has been claimed a second Australian named in the Spanish court documents, Melbourne cleric Sheikh Mohammed Omran, was...

CONTROVERSIAL Melbourne cleric Sheikh Mohammed Omran has expressed concern 17 men arrested for allegedly planning to carry out terror attacks are being publicly vilified. Sheikh Omran stated his alarm and unease over the arrests in a statement posted on the website of the Islamic organisation he heads. "The Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah Association of Australia considers the security of our nation with high priority," he said. "We hope all those accused receive a fair trial and the presumption of innocence is preserved. "We have concerns over the discrepancy between public allegations and actual charges laid in court." "In these uncertain...

Radical cleric hits out at PM THE nation's most radical Muslim cleric, Sheik Mohammed Omran, last night accused John Howard of being "inflammatory" as a war of words erupted between the religious leader and the Prime Minister over the responsibility of Muslim leaders to denounce terrorism. Speaking in London at the weekend, Mr Howard singled out the Melbourne-based sheik, describing as "appalling" his recent comments that Osama bin Laden "in effect is a good man and the attacks in London were the responsibility of the Americans". Sheik Omran, who has said there was no proof bin Laden was behind the...

CANBERRA, Australia, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A former baggage handler for Qantas Airways has been identified by the CIA as an al-Qaida member. Government officials told The Australian newspaper they are aware of claims that Bilal Khazal of Sydney and Melbourne cleric Sheikh Mohammed Omran have been linked to an al-Qaida detainee known as Abu Dahdah. The allegations, made public this week by the Australian Broadcasting Corp., reportedly stem from telephone intercepts revealed recently in a Spanish court. The newspaper said the intercepts suggest repeated contact between the two Australians and the Spaniard. The Australian said, among other things, Abu...