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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...

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Gunmen killed the Basra correspondent of the U.S.-funded television station Alhurra outside his house in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, police said on Wednesday. Abdul-Hussein Khazal was killed when several gunmen attacked his house, police said. Alhurra is an Arabic-language satellite station set up with U.S. funding last year in an effort to compete with other Arabic satellite channels like Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya. It is based in the state of Virginia. Dozens of foreign and Iraqi journalists have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

Two Sydney brothers, Bilal and Maher Khazal, have been sentenced in absentia to 10 years' jail in Beirut for terrorist offences. So why is nothing happening? The Lebanese Government says that it is considering whether to seek the brothers' extradition, while the Australian Government is saying that it can do nothing until such a request is forthcoming. But while the two governments execute their elaborate diplomatic dance, like debutantes at the ball, the Khazal brothers can do as they wish on the streets of Sydney. And we are supposed to be alert but not alarmed? Bilal Khazal's passport was confiscated...

SYDNEY, Australia - Australia is willing to extradite two brothers convicted by a Lebanese military court of participating in attacks on American and British businesses, Prime Minister John Howard said Monday. The two men, Bilal and Maher Khazal, were convicted in absentia Saturday in Lebanon but remain free at their homes in Sydney because they have not been charged with crimes in Australia. They were among 32 people convicted Saturday by the military court in Beirut for the attacks. The brothers were each sentenced to 10 years in prison. "We are ready to extradite them if an extradition request is...

CANBERRA, Australia, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A former baggage handler for Qantas Airways has been identified by the CIA as an al-Qaida member. Government officials told The Australian newspaper they are aware of claims that Bilal Khazal of Sydney and Melbourne cleric Sheikh Mohammed Omran have been linked to an al-Qaida detainee known as Abu Dahdah. The allegations, made public this week by the Australian Broadcasting Corp., reportedly stem from telephone intercepts revealed recently in a Spanish court. The newspaper said the intercepts suggest repeated contact between the two Australians and the Spaniard. The Australian said, among other things, Abu...

A Melbourne Muslim cleric met a suspected terrorist in London to discuss recruiting Australians to fight with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, according to an indictment for an international terrorist court case. The Australian has obtained a copy of the 692-page indictment which contains details of activities of two Australians with suspected members of al-Qa'ida in Europe. Sheik Mohammed Omran is accused of meeting suspected British al-Qa'ida operative Abu Qutada - who allegedly played a key role in financing and organising the al-Qa'ida network from London. At that meeting, according to Spanish authorities, Sheik Omran talked about recruiting Australians to...

A former Qantas baggage handler with alleged links to terrorist network al-Qaeda has had his passport confiscated, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today. Bilal Khazal was named in a report by the United States intelligence agency CIA as someone associated with al-Qaeda, the group believed to be responsible for the September 11 attacks on the US. The Four Corners program said the CIA report alleged Mr Khazal trained in Afghanistan in 1998 and worked for Qantas until a security review shortly before the 2000 Olympics. He now runs an internet site for the Islamic Youth Movement in Sydney and was...