Posted on 09/04/2003 10:17:27 AM PDT by knighthawk
A SYDNEY man allegedly telephoned the suspected leader of al-Qa'ida in Spain – Abu Dahdah – seeking help to move a "brother" and his family throughout Europe.
The allegation about former Qantas baggage handler Bilal Khazal – made in documents tendered in Mr Dahdah's terrorism trial – contradicts claims by him that he had never spoken to the alleged terror chief, or even knew who he was.
As more details of a network of alleged terror supporters in Australia emerged yesterday, it has been claimed a second Australian named in the Spanish court documents, Melbourne cleric Sheikh Mohammed Omran, was at one time familiar with the identical twins who ran Jemaah Islamiah in Australia.
And one of two Australian suspects imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, Mamdouh Habib, is claimed to have helped a Dutch man, since charged with terrorism, Murat Ofkeli, while he was in Australia raising funds for an unnamed foreign charity.
The allegations cast new light on Australia's emerging strategic importance in the loose global terror alliance.
Mr Dahdah is accused of having close links to Mohammed Atta, the chief hijacker in the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Based on a summary of the documents tendered in the Dahdah case – which have been publicly accessible in a Madrid court for almost two years – the Australian Federal Police this week asked Spain for access to Mr Dahdah in an effort to gather more evidence about the two Australians he was alleged to have befriended.
They claim the "brother" Mr Khazal allegedly wanted to help had already been rejected for entry into Italy, with officials stamping his passport so he could not try again.
The documents say Mr Dahdah complied with Mr Khazal's request, eventually putting him up in a small hotel when he arrived with his family in Madrid.
Neil Fergus, of Intelligent Risks, who has studied the court documents, said Mr Khazal needed to explain his connection to Mr Dahdah.
Mr Khazal was maintaining his silence yesterday. However, the other Australian named in the documents, Sheikh Omran, denied he had ever been in contact with Mr Dahdah, or had been contacted by police or ASIO.
According to a JI source, Sheik Omran was at one time familiar with former Australian JI chiefs Abdul Rahim Ayub and Abdul Rahman Ayub.
The Australian has been told Sheikh Omran, who is known as Abu Aman in Muslim circles, owned a property in a semi-rural area of Mundijong, south of Perth, several years ago. He was connected to a mosque in Maylands, in the city's eastern suburbs.
Sheikh Omran yesterday denied he knew the twins.
He said he had travelled to Perth, but had never been involved with any terrorist during his trips there, or to Spain and elsewhere.
"Why would I go to Spain when I can go next door to Afghanistan – it doesn't make sense," he said outside his home at Coburg, in Melbourne's north.
"The people always like to make such stories but these allegations have no basis in fact. I am not in contact with (al-Qa'ida) or (Mr Dahdah)."
Sheikh Omran denied he had been interviewed by federal police and said he had been cleared of any wrong-doing during the two years the allegations had been made public.
"The police know everything about our organisation," he said. "It is a teacher organisation, nothing more."
A spokesperson for Prime Minister John Howard said: "The AFP started this request through the Commonwealth DPP and the Attorney General's Department on August 22. Translation was required and a formal request was made on September 2."
Mr Khazal is also known by the alias Abu Suhaib, and his telephone links to Mr Dahdah were spelled out in court transcripts made public shortly after the September 11 attacks.
ASIO and the Australian Federal Police have monitored the movements of Sheikh Omran and Mr Khazal for the past three years but have paid far more attention to the latter, suspecting him of many links to terror sympathisers around the world.
Of the 65 individuals the AFP has admitted to monitoring on suspicions of links to terrorism, fewer than 10 are given what officers call "the full treatment" – around-the-clock scrutiny, including of their movements and financial details.
According to the JI source, one or both of Abdul Rahim Ayub and Abdul Rahman Ayub used to visit the sheikh regularly. However, the source could not specify whether the contacts were anything more than friendly visits.
Rahim Ayub, the leader of JI's Mantiqi 4 cell, slipped out of Australia in the weeks before authorities raided his home following the Bali bombings last October.
Rahman Ayub, who built al-Qa'ida connections during five years fighting in Afghanistan, was deported from Australia about two years ago after failing to gain residency.
Both of the brothers are wanted for questioning over their roles in JI.
---
Habib's troubles worsen
By Martin Chulov, September 05, 2003
MAMDOUH Habib just seems to find trouble.
If he wasn't being bashed by a Muslim rival in Sydney's southwest, he was being jumped by ASIO, or being arrested by the Pakistanis near the Afghan border.
And now his connections seem to have reached a new level.
Mr Habib, detained with Australian David Hicks by the US in a cage in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay, was alleged yesterday to have helped Dutchman Murat Ofkeli, who was in Australia during and after the 2000 Olympics to raise money for an overseas charity.
Mr Ofkeli was charged last year with financing terrorist acts, charges that were later thrown out of court.
Mr Habib's lawyer, Steven Hopper, said his client knew Mr Ofkeli – but, as was the case on the other occasions, had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"We never knew about this. We wouldn't have believed Mamdouh would've known about this fellow's background," Mr Hopper told ABC radio.
"The circumstances were that a group of people associated with that prayer-room had taken this fellow's passport and some money.
"Mr Habib felt sorry for the fellow and tried to assist him in getting those things back."
One of the men was allegedly Bilal Khazal, a hardliner who has been repeatedly accused of having terrorist sympathies.
Mr Habib allegedly ended up being beaten by Mr Khazal, who was later charged.
Mr Ofkeli has since been freed from Dutch custody after a judge threw out charges against him on the grounds that neither al-Qa'ida nor the Taliban were hostile towards Holland.
Dutch prosecutors are planning an appeal.
Mr Habib's headaches continue. In late 2001, he was arrested near Karachi and handed over to the US on suspicions he was an active al-Qa'ida member.
He remains in Guantanamo Bay, with little hope of release in the near future. And even if he does make it home, he has no chance of justice being served on his alleged attacker. The charges against Mr Khazal were dropped on the basis that Mr Habib was in full-time custody.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,7171462%255E2702,00.html
I see. Now, I'm hostile toward $#%#$% Holland.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.