HOWARD
SYDNEY, Australia (AP):
TWO ISLAMIC terror cells were rushing to become the first to stage a major 'jihad' terror bombing in Australia, a prosecutor said yesterday after armed police arrested 17 suspects in a string of coordinated pre-dawn raids in two cities.
"Thankfully, the police forces of this country might just have prevented a catastrophic act of terrorism ... either in Melbourne or in Sydney," said New South Wales state Police Minister Carl Scully.
One of the suspects, Abdulla Merhi, wanted to carry out attacks to avenge the war in Iraq, police said in a Melbourne court.
SUPPORTER OF INVASION
Australian Prime Minister John Howard was a strong supporter of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and still has hundreds of troops in the country.
Opponents of Howard say that has raised the likelihood of terrorists striking Australia.
"We have, in the case of the role we played in East Timor and the role we played in Iraq, also drawn ourselves to the attention of people who would commit terrorist acts against this country," said Kim Beazley, leader of the opposition Labour Party.
Norm Hazzard, who heads the state's counter-terror police unit, said the suspects were followers of the al-Qaida chief.
"I think you can go back to Osama bin Laden and those who follow his philosophy - that is what terrorism in its modern form is all about and there's no doubt that this group followed that same philosophy," he said.
MEN ARRESTED
About 500 armed police arrested nine men in the southern city of Melbourne and eight in Sydney, including one man critically injured in a gun fight with police.
Police said they expected more arrests in coming days and weeks. Federal police raided another Sydney home yesterday, but there were no immediate reports of arrests.
The raids came less than a week after Howard strengthened counter-terror laws after saying intelligence agencies had warned of a possible imminent terror attack.
And he went on national television to say the risk was not over despite yesterday's arrests.
NOT IMMUNE TO ATTACK
"This country has never been immune from a possible terrorist attack," he said. "That remains the situation today and it will be the situation tomorrow."
Police said the raids appeared to have come before the plotters settled on a target.
Both cells were led by 45-year-old firebrand cleric Abu Bakr, an Australian who was born in Algeria, a prosecutor said.
Bakr made headlines earlier this year by calling bin Laden a "good man."
