Free Republic

PAKISTANI-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is alleged to have trained Australian terror suspects David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, is extending its operational tentacles into Southeast Asia. A terrorism white paper released by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer yesterday examines the future of the terrorist threat to Australia. It says support for al-Qaeda regional offshoot Jemaah Islamiah is growing despite the arrest of more than 300 operatives in the wake of September 11 and the Bali bombing. Though Lashkar-e-Taiba was involved in providing training to Southeast Asian-based terrorist groups such as JI and the Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf in Pakistan and Kashmir, some...