Posted on 11/18/2002 6:43:33 PM PST by Dundee
Australian accused of plot to bomb embassies
An Australian man charged after a series of counter-terrorism raids this month allegedly planned to bomb Israeli diplomatic buildings in Canberra and Sydney.
The 49-year-old man, named as Jack Roche, was arrested in Perth late last night over an alleged plan to bomb diplomatic posts in Australia.
The Australian Federal Police said he faced a charge of conspiracy to bomb diplomatic premises in Australia when he appears in the Perth Court of Petty Sessions this morning.
AFP general manager national operations Ben McDevitt said his arrest was not connected to the Bali bombings.
But English-born Mr Roche, a convert to Islam 10 years ago, recently admitted attending meetings in Australia with Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual head of outlawed terror group Jemaah Islamiah.
He also told Australian newspapers he was trained to use explosives in Afghanistan two years ago.
In earlier interviews with The Australian newspaper, Roche said he had undergone explosives training in Afghanistan two years ago.
He also said he had attempted to recruit other Australians for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
During previous interviews with the paper, Mr Roche had detailed plans to bomb American and Israeli targets on Australian soil.
The paper said Mr Roche had been questioned by ASIO about a trip to the Middle East at the request of bin Laden's south-east Asian operative, known as Hambali, in early 2000.
Roche, who according to the newspaper is fluent in Indonesian and married to an Indonesian-born woman, told the paper he was seconded to Hambali after immersing himself in the teachings of Jemaah Islamiah (JI) spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir.
He said he travelled to the town of Banting in Malaysia, where Hambali was living next door to Bashir, and was asked to begin recruiting three or four Australians to form an al-Qaeda cell, the paper said.
Roche was then sent to Afghanistan where he met bin Laden and key al-Qaeda members and learned to use TNT to make bombs, it said.
He told the paper the targets were not Australians but people killing Muslims in other parts of the world, particularly Palestine.
But he said groups of JI supporters in three Australian states were involved in nothing more than prayer meetings of mostly Indonesian Muslims.
He told the paper he did not believe Bashir was involved in terrorism and that he had never heard the Muslim cleric speak of violence.
Israel's Consul-General Ephraim Ben-Matityahu refused to disclose whether the consulate or embassy had received specific threats, but said cooperation from Australian authorities ensured security was tight.
"We have very, very good cooperation with Australian authorities (relating to) all levels of personal safety and security of the embassy and consulate," he said.
"From our end, it's just another sign that people who are supposed to look after foreign entities in Australia are definitely doing their job."
He said it was not surprising Israeli buildings would be targeted in Australia.
"Fanaticism is no different in Australia or anywhere else," he said.
"We are not surprised by fanaticism. This is the same brand of fanaticism which normally drives people to commit atrocities against their own and others and always under the title of a noble cause."
His lawyer Rob Mazza said Mr Roche had been charged with two offences.
"All I can say is that I've been instructed to appear for Mr Roche and that I know really nothing about him or his background," he told ABC Radio.
"He has been charged with two counts of conspiracy under the Commonwealth Crimes Act relating to an allegation that he and others intentionally planned to destroy or damage, it seems from the charges, the Israeli embassy in Canberra and the Israeli consulate in Sydney.
AAP
You may be right, Fred. I suspect that, for all their faults, the Bali police force did an effective interrogation of someone. I doubt that the Australians knew about this guy for all of his high contacts...
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