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Australia Charges 5 Men Over Somali-Linked Plot to Attack Army
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By Robert Fenner and Madelene Pearson
Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Australian police charged five men with planning a suicide attack against an army barracks, as the government said it may outlaw a Somali Islamist militia allegedly linked to the plot.
One of the men, Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, 33, refused to stand before the judge when he appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court today charged with preparing an act of terrorism.
“You call me a terrorist, I have never killed anyone in my life,” Fattal said as he was led from the dock by security guards. “Your army kills innocent people in Iraq.”
Prosecutors say the men aimed to storm the Holsworthy Barracks in western Sydney with automatic weapons and kill as many soldiers as possible. Police have linked the plot to the Islamist militia, al-Shabaab, which is fighting to overthrow the Somali government.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the government was giving “serious consideration” to outlawing al- Shabaab. The group was designated a terrorist organization last year by the U.S., which accuses it of providing a haven and logistical support to al-Qaeda.
Four men, Australian citizens of Somali or Lebanese descent aged between 22 and 26, were detained in dawn raids yesterday across the southern city of Melbourne and the town of Colac. Fattal was already in custody for an unrelated matter.
A 25-year-old man appeared in court yesterday charged with preparing a terrorist act. The other four appeared in court today facing the same charge. All have been remanded in custody before their next court appearance on Oct. 26.
The men, who appeared separately, were flanked at all times by guards amid tightened security in the packed courtroom. Some family and friends of the accused cried and shouted at police when they were barred from entering because the court was full.
Somali Community
Police met today with senior members of the Islamic community in Melbourne, some of whom have expressed concern that media reporting of the arrests could prompt a backlash against Muslims in Australia.
“This investigation is about a small group of people that we’re alleging have got extreme views and we’re asking the Australian community to give a fair go to the Muslim community and Somalis,” said Assistant Commissioner Stephen Fontana of the Victoria Police counterterrorism unit.
“They have got genuine concerns about the impact that reporting on this could have on their community members,” Fontana said, after he and other officers met with Somali and Muslim community leaders at a town hall in a suburb of Melbourne.
Al-Shabaab is fighting to oust the United Nations-backed Somali government and controls much of southern Somalia.
While the group has focused its activities within the Horn of Africa nation, terrorism analysts say its aspirations may be expanding as it seeks to recruit people from overseas.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation says as many as 17 Somali-Americans have disappeared from Minneapolis in the past two years -- one of whom became a suicide bomber in Somalia.
The FBI says it is concerned citizens may receive weapons and terrorism training from the group and return to America to plot attacks.
To contact the reporters on this story: Robert Fenner in Melbourne [email protected]; Madelene Pearson in Melbourne on
Australia Charges 5 Men Over Somali-Linked Plot to Attack Army
Share | Email | Print | A A A
By Robert Fenner and Madelene Pearson
Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Australian police charged five men with planning a suicide attack against an army barracks, as the government said it may outlaw a Somali Islamist militia allegedly linked to the plot.
One of the men, Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, 33, refused to stand before the judge when he appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court today charged with preparing an act of terrorism.
“You call me a terrorist, I have never killed anyone in my life,” Fattal said as he was led from the dock by security guards. “Your army kills innocent people in Iraq.”
Prosecutors say the men aimed to storm the Holsworthy Barracks in western Sydney with automatic weapons and kill as many soldiers as possible. Police have linked the plot to the Islamist militia, al-Shabaab, which is fighting to overthrow the Somali government.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the government was giving “serious consideration” to outlawing al- Shabaab. The group was designated a terrorist organization last year by the U.S., which accuses it of providing a haven and logistical support to al-Qaeda.
Four men, Australian citizens of Somali or Lebanese descent aged between 22 and 26, were detained in dawn raids yesterday across the southern city of Melbourne and the town of Colac. Fattal was already in custody for an unrelated matter.
A 25-year-old man appeared in court yesterday charged with preparing a terrorist act. The other four appeared in court today facing the same charge. All have been remanded in custody before their next court appearance on Oct. 26.
The men, who appeared separately, were flanked at all times by guards amid tightened security in the packed courtroom. Some family and friends of the accused cried and shouted at police when they were barred from entering because the court was full.
Somali Community
Police met today with senior members of the Islamic community in Melbourne, some of whom have expressed concern that media reporting of the arrests could prompt a backlash against Muslims in Australia.
“This investigation is about a small group of people that we’re alleging have got extreme views and we’re asking the Australian community to give a fair go to the Muslim community and Somalis,” said Assistant Commissioner Stephen Fontana of the Victoria Police counterterrorism unit.
“They have got genuine concerns about the impact that reporting on this could have on their community members,” Fontana said, after he and other officers met with Somali and Muslim community leaders at a town hall in a suburb of Melbourne.
Al-Shabaab is fighting to oust the United Nations-backed Somali government and controls much of southern Somalia.
While the group has focused its activities within the Horn of Africa nation, terrorism analysts say its aspirations may be expanding as it seeks to recruit people from overseas.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation says as many as 17 Somali-Americans have disappeared from Minneapolis in the past two years -- one of whom became a suicide bomber in Somalia.
The FBI says it is concerned citizens may receive weapons and terrorism training from the group and return to America to plot attacks.
To contact the reporters on this story: Robert Fenner in Melbourne [email protected]; Madelene Pearson in Melbourne on
