Police arrested four men linked to a Somali militant group yesterday, accusing them of planning a suicide attack on an army base and raising concerns that al-Qaeda-linked militants were seeking targets outside Africa.
The four were arrested in dawn raids on 19 properties across the southern city of Melbourne, after a seven-month investigation involving three police forces and Australia’s national security agency ASIO.
Officials said the terrorism warning alert would remain at medium level, where it has been since 2003, but Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the arrests showed threats remained.
“The sobering element to emerge from today’s development is the reminder to all Australians that the threat of terrorism is alive and well,” he said in Cairns.
The four men arrested were aged between 22 and 26 and were all Australian citizens with Somali and Lebanese backgrounds. Police said they were linked to the al Shabaab militant group.
One man, Nayaf El Sayed, 25, was officially charged with conspiring to plan or prepare a terrorist act. Police were granted extra time to question three others, Saney Aweys, Yacqub Khayre and Abdirahman Ahmed.
Sayed did not enter a plea or apply for bail, and he refused to stand for the magistrate before he was remanded in jail to reapppear in court on Oct. 26.
“He believes he should not stand for any man except God,” his counsel told the hearing.
A fifth man, in custody on other matters, was also being questioned and police have not ruled out more arrests.
Prosecutors told the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court they had evidence some of the men had taken part in training in Somalia and at least one had engaged in frontline fighting in Somalia.
They said police had evidence of phone conversations, text messages and surveillance footage, including footage of one of the suspects outside the Holsworthy army base in suburban Sydney.
Al Shabaab is a hardline militant Islamist youth group that is deeply involved in violence in Somalia. It has vowed to rule the majority Muslim nation by a hardline interpretation of Islamic law, and has dug up Sufi graves, forced women to wear veils, closed down movie halls and cut off limbs for theft.
Analysts say al Shabaab, which is on the US State Department’s terrorism list, is affiliated with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, and has recently had success recruiting from the Somali diaspora and other Muslim youths abroad.
Strategic analyst Carl Ungerer said the Australian arrests point to growing militant activity from north Africa.
“The arrests this morning clearly show that Australia remains a gold-medal target for international terrorism,” said Ungerer, from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
“It is clearly the case, and security intelligence agencies have believed for some time now, there is a real, increasing tempo of al-Qaeda activity across all of north Africa, not just the horn,” Ungerer said.
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