Posted on 04/16/2004 1:39:45 PM PDT by knighthawk
THE arrest of a Sydney student on terrorism training charges has intensified the police focus on four Sydney men allegedly linked to a Pakistan-based terror cell that ASIO suspects plotted to bomb Australian military bases last year.
Fourth-year medical student Izhar Ul-Haque has spent his second night in the nation's highest-security prison, the Supermax at Goulburn, after becoming only the second person charged in Australia with terrorism offences since the 1978 Hilton bombing.
NSW Premier Bob Carr confirmed yesterday that his Government had been asked to make preparations to house more than one suspect in its prison system. "We were told several days ago to prepare several cells," he said.
The federal Government confirmed that Ul-Haque's arrest stemmed from a wide investigation into the activities of French terror suspect Willie Brigitte and his alleged Sydney associates.
Police have not suggested Ul-Haque was linked directly or indirectly to Brigitte, who was deported to France last October. But they do allege he trained with the same terrorist group that backed the Frenchman - Lashkar-e-Taiba - and met several of its members.
The four other Sydney men have been under investigation over their connection with LET and their knowledge of a combat trainer known as Sajid.
Ul-Haque was an associate of one of the suspects, known by his alias Abu Hamza, but he has not featured as a central player in the investigation into the alleged Sydney LET network.
Two of the other men under the scrutiny of authorities are a Lebanese taxi driver and a Bangladeshi butcher. Another man, Mohammed Ndaw, was interviewed by federal police but is no longer considered to be of interest.
Also Pakistan-born, Hamza became a suspect largely because of what ASIO officers found when they raided his former workplace -- an architectural firm -- last November.
Tracing his emails and facsimile use, they found inquiries for prices of bulk quantities of chemicals from the Melbourne-based chemical distributor Deltrex.
The chemicals, including nitric acid and urea, were never ordered, but authorities believe Hamza had set up bogus company names intended to be used for that purpose.
Authorities also found geographical software, which was used to map parts of Sydney, including the Holsworthy Army Base and the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor.
Over the past six months, Hamza has refused all requests - by federal police and media outlets - to be interviewed.
Hamza's lawyer Stephen Hopper said: "My client denies any wrongdoing and he has a reasonable explanation for all of his activities that have warranted attention. At this stage his position is not to comment any further as currently there is one matter before court and another to be filed soon."
One matter involves an application to the federal court for his seized Pakistani passport to be returned.
"We haven't been contacted by any authorities," Mr Hopper said. "And from what I've seen I don't think there's sufficient evidence to warrant an arrest, let alone a conviction."
If Ul-Haque is convicted, he faces a maximum of 25 years in prison, even though LET was not designated a banned terrorist group at the time he allegedly trained with it.
Until six months ago, LET was considered a band of guerilla fighters. But strong evidence has emerged that it is increasingly being used as an arrowhead for the al-Qa'ida network.
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