Sydney bomb factory By Lillian Saleh 21 December 2002
POLICE were interrogating a South African-born Muslim man last night after 14 bombs and Islamic literature were found in a dramatic raid on his western Sydney home.
Police revealed the devices were packed with ammonium nitrate, nails and metal and had enormous lethal power.
Ammonium nitrate is the same chemical used in the Oklahoma city bombing.
The terror scare, which centred on the house of Gill Daniels – described by neighbours as a committed Muslim – occurred only by chance.
Daniels, 36, now an Australian citizen, had not paid rent on his apartment in Nagle St, Liverpool, for two months and sheriffs arrived yesterday morning to evict him.
Daniels was absent and, when sheriffs forced their way into the apartment, they found the bombs, Islamic literature and a blackboard covered in Arab characters. The Daily Telegraph, first on the scene, witnessed the three-hour raid, which involved a crew from the NSW Fire Service and six police squad cars of detectives, general duties officers and the bomb squad.
We can also report exclusively on Daniels' dramatic return to his apartment yesterday afternoon, where he appeared to try and evade police in his car but was caught in traffic two streets away.
NSW Police said last night that every possibility, including a domestic terror attack, was now being investigated in relation to the finds.
"Whether they be religious, political, ideological, it is too early to say," Assistant Commissioner Dave Madden said at Liverpool Police Station last night, where Daniels was detained.
The sheriffs immediately notified police after finding the bomb-making equipment, with officers rushing to the three-storey unit block shortly after noon.
NW Fire Brigade Officers and local detectives converged on the unit as Police officers evacuated dozens of residents from neighbouring apartments.
A NSW Police spokesman said the bombs were allegedly found in the loungeroom of the two bedroom unit.
Officers allegedly found several other suspicous items in the unit's garage, but the spokesman would not identify the items.
It is understood however that they included wires and chemicals.
Officers from the state crime command and bomb squad technicians entered the top-storey unit to examine the items.
Detectives, laying in wait for Daniels to return home, ordered residents not to congregate in the street.
He returned to Nagle Street, driving a silver early model BMW before taking off at high speed when he saw police cars at 3:30pm.
The man then led police on a high speed chase before he was eventually caught while stuck in traffic.
Detectives swooped on the car, arresting Daniels before ordering a passing tow-truck driver to tow the man's car back to Nagle Street.
Residents yesterday described the man as "strange".
He is believed to have worked as a bricklayer and is a divorced father of two.
"He used to call anyone who wasn't a Muslim a heathen," one neighbour told The Daily Telegraph.
"Once he threw garbage out of his window, down on us because we got into an argument."
Other residents said the man often returned home late at night and kept an untidy unit.
"There were heaps of TVs and computers lying around everywhere", Felix Singh, 25, said.
Other neighbours said the man also had an accumulation of Islamic literature and a chalkboard "covered in arabic writing".
One of Daniels' friends said he was often "frustrated" by the way he was treated by neighbours.
"He said he was very upset by the state of the world and was always saying people are pushed too much into doing things". The raid came just one day after NSW Emergency Services were put through their paces in a mock terrorism trial.
Not really.
"He used to call anyone who wasn't a Muslim a heathen,"
I'd say that pretty much wraps it up.
I imagine heaving garbage out the window onto the neighbors' heads would have a chilling effect on that community spirit.