Somali extremists on a 'fatwa order' from God | The Australian
POLICE feared that a group of Melbourne Islamic extremists might have recently obtained a fatwa, or religious blessing, to carry out a terrorist attack in Australia, raising the possibility that it could be carried out within weeks.
The Australian understands police were concerned that a Somali Australian who returned from the war-torn country only three weeks ago might have secretly obtained a fatwa from a sheik in Somalia, although police were unable to confirm this through their surveillance.
Faced with the possibility that a suicide attack on an Australian Army base might be imminent, more than 400 federal and state police swooped on the terror suspects early yesterday, arresting four men and executing search warrants on 19 houses.
Nayef El Sayed, 24, was charged with conspiring with Saney Edow Aweys, Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, Yacqub Khayre and Abdirahman Ahmed to prepare for a terrorist attack on the Holsworthy army base in Sydney's southwest.
As of last night, the remaining four men had not been charged.
As revealed exclusively in The Australian yesterday, police believe the Melbourne group planned to launch a suicide assault on an Australian Army base using automatic weapons.
It is alleged they planned to kill as many people as possible before they were themselves killed in what would have been the worst act of terrorism in Australia.
Kevin Rudd said the arrests of the men were a grim reminder that terrorism remained a real threat to Australians.
"There is an enduring threat from terrorism at home here in Australia as well as overseas," the Prime Minister said. "I want to reassure all Australians that our law enforcement agencies and our intelligence agencies are working hard to combat terrorism."
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said news of the plot showed that the fight against terrorism was "far from won".
Commonwealth prosecutor Nick Robinson told Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday the accused were preparing a suicide attack on the Holsworthy army base.
"To become self-proclaimed martyrs?" magistrate Peter Reardon asked.
"Yes," Mr Robinson replied.
The prosecutor said they had a "voluminous" amount of evidence about the conspiracy, including telephone intercept records and surveillance footage.
The intercepts picked up conversations between some of the men about going to Somalia "to be engaged in the conflict" but they had problems getting into that country.
These discussions then turned to "violent action to take place in Australia".
Mr Sayed appeared only briefly in court for the filing hearing, handcuffed and flanked between two police officers. He refused to stand up for the judge, with his lawyer Anthony Brand saying, "He believes that he shouldn't stand for any man except God".
Mr Robinson said text messages uncovered by investigators included one sent from Mr Fattal on March 24 that read: "Can you give me the address of the Australian A and the name of the train station."
He told the court another text message was sent from a Preston pay phone on March 27 giving directions to the Holsworthy army base.
Mr Robinson said CCTV footage revealed Mr Fattal had "attended" the Holsworthy base on March 28, before he sent another message saying: "I strolled around ... it is easy to enter."
The court was told during the hearing for Mr Khayre that investigators believe he had travelled to Somalia to take part in a military training camp.
"He left Australia on the 13th of April and returned on the 14th of July," AFP officer Brendan Castles told the court.
Mr Ahmed was also involved in seeking religious authorisation for the terrorist attack on Australian soil, the court heard.
"We believe that Ahmed was seeking a fatwa and that fatwa would have assisted the group in committing the act," AFP officer Niranjan Jirasinha said.
Mr Robinson said there were several men seeking the fatwa from sheiks and clerics "out of the state and (in) countries overseas".
The Australian understands the suspects believed a fatwa would lend credibility to their cause and ensure they became martyrs.
Two members of the group are believed to have travelled to Somalia to train with the militant extremist group Al-Shabaab, which the US believes has links with al-Qa'ida. But when other members of the group could not travel to Somalia, they turned their attention to carrying out an act of terror in Australia.
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