VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3], 4 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 12:15:14 04/18/02 Thu
Author: Buffy's vampire
Subject: Aussie rpoduce another terrorist in sheep's clothing

Australian authorities will seek access to a Sydney man held by American forces in Afghanistan for allegedly training with al-Qaeda terrorists.

Attorney-General Daryl Williams said Australia wanted to talk to Mamdouh Habib, a 46-year-old Sydney man, who was arrested in Pakistan in early October.

Mr Habib was arrested as he left Afghanistan and was then taken to Egypt, but was transferred to American military custody back in Afghanistan on April 16.

He holds Australian citizenship but is also believed to be an Egyptian citizen.

Australia was denied access to Mr Habib in Egypt but will try to speak to him now that he is in American hands.

"Australian authorities will be seeking from the US authorities access to Habib for intelligence purposes, for law enforcement purposes and to ensure that he is kept in safe and humane conditions," Mr Williams told reporters in Perth.

Mr Habib is the second Australian to be arrested in relation to their connections with al-Qaeda.

Adelaide man David Hicks is being held by American forces at Camp X-ray in Cuba.

Mr Habib migrated to Australia in the early 1980s. He last left Australia in August last year for an unknown destination.

Mr Williams said US forces maintained Mr Habib was in good health.

It is alleged by the US that Mr Habib took part in training with al-Qaeda, but it is not known if he took part in fighting for the terrorist organisation.

US ambassador to Australia Tom Schieffer said Australians underestimated the potential for a terrorist attack.

"The only thing that I worry about is whether Australians have come to grips with the reality of terrorism, that it can happen here," Mr Schieffer said in Perth.

"In some respects I see almost the same thought pattern that you had in the United States prior to September 11, and that was that terrorism is something that happens in the Middle East, or Northern Ireland, not America."

Mr Schieffer said that mindset did not exist in the US now, and neither should Australia be complacent.

"It is a realisation that it can happen in the United States, and what I hope Australians realise is that it can happen here too, and I hope they have their guards up and that some sort of tragedy doesn't happen here like it did in the United States," he said.

On Thursday, the government announced that the assets of more terrorist groups had been frozen, although the Central Bank of Afghanistan would no longer be listed.

Mr Williams and Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the government had listed in the Commonwealth Government Gazette a further list of terrorists and organisations whose assets must be frozen under the Charter of the United Nations (Anti-terrorism Measures) Regulations 2001.

"The latest list includes organisations and individuals linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban and a number of internationally recognised foreign terrorist organisations," they said.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-8
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.