AND I CAN'T VOTE.
IT'S "FOR THE PUPPIES!"
Posted on 10/28/2002 2:54:36 PM PST by 1bigdictator
Northern Australia target for new Islam state By IAN McPHEDRAN and JIM DICKINS 29oct02 NORTHERN Australia is part of a radical plan for a new Muslim super state in South-East Asia, according to spies in the Philippines.
A senior Philippines official said the radical group at the centre of the Bali bombing investigation, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), included parts of northern Australia in its plans.
JI was behind a plot to blow up western embassies in Singapore and is implicated in other attacks in the region.
National Security adviser Rolio Gomez told the ABC 4 Corners program Australian intelligence agencies were aware of the plan.
"That's what your intelligence tells you, that's what our intelligence indicates," he said.
According to reports, northern Australia and Irian Jaya are included in four planned organisations called "mantiqis".
But Attorney-General Daryl Williams and national security experts expressed serious doubts about the reports.
A spokeswoman for Mr Williams said the Government was aware of claims that JI was planning a pan-Islamic state in South-East Asia.
"We can't exclude the possibility someone might claim northern Australia, however all the information we have is not consistent with that," she said.
Indonesian police finally arrested the prime suspect in the Bali bombing, JI leader and radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, 63. He has denied any involvement.
Hundreds of angry JI supporters rallied in Solo, central Java yesterday, attacking police, as Bakar was led away and taken to Jakarta for interrogation.
Muslim leaders and students as young as 12 gathered outside the hospital yelling: "We are ready to die"; banners read: "We are not terrorists", and "Our teacher will not flee."
JI's operations officer, 36-year-old Afghan war veteran Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, remains South-East Asia's most wanted man.
The focus of the regional war against terrorism is shifting to the Philippines, where Prime Minister John Howard will make his first visit for six years early next year.
US Special Forces conducted operations against Muslim extremists in the country's south earlier this year.
Any pretence of bi-partisanship within Australia over terrorism all but disappeared as Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd accused the Government of ignoring Asia.
Mr Rudd said the Philippines had been a hotbed of terrorism for years.
He said Mr Howard had ignored that country while pursuing his role of US deputy sheriff in Asia.
"Australia does not need politically driven catch-up football from our Prime Minister," he Mr Rudd said. "What Australia needs is a sustained long-term policy of comprehensive engagement with our immediate neighbourhood."
The government got the green light from the United Nations yesterday to pursue JI and its supporters. Attorney-General Daryl Williams said it would deal with anybody committing an offence by associating with JI.
-All Terror, All the Time-- FR's links to NBC Warfare, Terror, and More...--
Actions speak louder than words. But please, don't take anyone unwilling with you on your way out.
(And I'll pray your words are wrong.)
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