Posted on 02/16/2006 6:20:21 PM PST by blam
'Bin Laden ordered me to topple government'
By Nick Squires in Sydney
(Filed: 17/02/2006)
Osama bin Laden ordered a Muslim convert to help prepare a terrorist attack to topple the Australian government, Victoria supreme court was told yesterday.
Joseph Thomas, 32, a taxi driver who changed his name to Jihad, was told to act as a sleeper agent and spy on military installations, said Nicholas Robinson, prosecuting.
The allegations were made on the first day of the trial of the man the media have nicknamed "Jihad Jack". He denies receiving money from al-Qa'eda in 2002 and 2003, providing the terrorist network with support to help it carry out an attack and having a false passport.
Mr Robinson said Thomas told police that he had seen bin Laden "at close quarters" several times and had trained for about three months at al-Qa'eda bases in Afghanistan before the September 11 attacks on America.
He was in Pakistan by July 2002, stayed in al-Qa'eda safe houses and allegedly overheard a plot to shoot down an aircraft carrying the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, with a rocket launcher.
An al-Qa'eda operative, Khaled bin Attash, discussed with him an attack that would "bring down the Australian government" and asked him to spy on potential military targets, the court heard.
Thomas returned to Australia in June 2004 after being held in Pakistan for six months on suspicion of having terrorist connections. The court was told that bin Attash had given him £2,000 and booked a Qantas airline ticket for him.
Thomas's lawyer, Lex Lasry, said his client might be naive or even stupid but he was not a terrorist.
If that's the case...when his IQ hits 50...he should sell!!!!
Never get in a taxi if the driver's name is Jihad.
so this guys name is 'Jihad Thomas'?
that's not something you see everyday
He has no defense, that's why they are trying the "I was stupid" defense, but it won't wash.
A CA terrorists is on trial too at this time.
California man trained to commit jihad in U.S., prosecutors say
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1580023/posts
Vastly different pictures emerged today of a man charged with attending an al-Qaida camp in Pakistan, with government attorneys portraying Hamid Hayat as a trained terrorist intent on attacking Americans while his defense described him as a directionless young man prone to wild storytelling. Prosecutors said they will show the 23-year-old Lodi man traveled to Pakistan in 2003 and 2004 to train at the camp. They also said he was awaiting information about potential targets after he returned to his family's home in the heart of California's farming region. "Hamid Hayat talked about jihad before he even left the United States. He talked about acts of violence, he talked about training camps. He received weapons training while he was there," Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Ferris said in opening statements, referring to the Arabic word for "holy war." "He admitted he went to a jihadist training camp, not once but twice. ... He returned to the United States to commit jihad, and he was waiting for orders."
True! The 'Dog Ate My Homework Defense' is outmoded in Australia I guess....LOL!
I saw his face on TV. He's stupid. He's as stupid (no, more stupid) than a housebrick. But stupid can be very very dangerous. And methinks he is. I hope they lock him up and never let him out. Btw, his mother still loves him -she walks alongside him during the hearing (yes, he is still on the street!) and clutches at him like he was her innocent little boy. Mothers. Only a mother could love a terrorist who called himself Jihad.
How he got bail, beats me. Progressive judge and all that.
Great idea Joe! They'll never catch on!
If your name is "Jihad" you are NOT paranoid....there ARE people watching you!!
I was watching them on the news last night with my elder son (in his late teens). He cracked up when he saw Mrs Thomas brushing something off her son's shoulders. My son, as a teenager, considers this embarassing and demeaning and treating him like a child when it's done to him - how much worse for a man in his thirties.
All the terrorists whoare willing to commit suicide to get their 72 virgins are also very stupid, but they are still deadly.
Arrested development, mental age of 12? Malignant aggression, probably cruel to animals. Would love to see a psychiatric report.
Mothers are always over-protective of mentally disturbed offspring. I guess they feel guilt, hold themselves responsible - for giving birth to a less than perfect child.
Conjecture, I know...but the look on his face disturbs me.
I'm thinking, if I ever get into a cab, and see that the driver's name is Jihad, I should kill him and flag another taxi.
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