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Top cleric 'stopped' terror plot
By
Cameron Stewart and Colleen Egan
AUSTRALIA's leading radical Islamic cleric has revealed he was told of a
planned terrorist attack in Australia only months before the Sydney Olympic
Games.
Sheik Mohammed Omran, the Melbourne-based leader of the fundamentalist Ahl
Sunnah wal Jama'ah Association, claims he advised against a plot to bomb
targets in Australia in 2000 and threatened to go to the police.
And a separate source has supported Sheik Omran's extraordinary revelation,
saying a letter sent to Indonesian terrorist figure Abu Bakar Bashir
prominently quoted the Melbourne cleric's view that bombings should not be
carried out on Australian soil.
In a series of exclusive interviews with The Weekend Australian,
Sheik Omran said he was approached in 2000 by identical twins Abdul Rahman
Ayub and Abdul Rahim Ayub, whom authorities now believe ran the Australian
arm of the terrorist group responsible for the Bali bombing, Jemaah Islamiah.
According to the sheik, the twins told him a Muslim man, whom The Weekend
Australian will call Hussein, was planning to carry out terror attacks.
The twins had not hatched the plot but sought guidance from the sheik in his
capacity as an Islamic elder statesman as to how they should respond to
Hussein's plan.
"They approached me and said 'this man wants to make some attacks on things
... and what do you want to do about it?'," Sheik Omran told The Weekend
Australian.
"I said 'go back, and if he doesn't stop thinking about it and talking about
it, I am going to stop him'. My threat was real and he stopped - that's the
end of the story."
The Weekend Australian has been told by a well-placed source that a
letter citing Sheik Omran's views was sent to Bashir, the JI spiritual
leader, to help stop the Hussein mission. The source, who saw the letter
before it was sent to Southeast Asia in the first half of 2000, said Bashir
received it and read its contents.
Sheik Omran claims he later told authorities of the Hussein plan. However,
the former head of intelligence for the Sydney Olympics, Neil Fergus, denies
receiving information about any specific bomb plot against foreign targets
before the September 2000 games.
Sheik Omran is the nation's most influential fundamentalist Islamic cleric,
preaching a pure and conservative form of Islam from prayer centres across
the country.
His teachings are closely followed by fundamentalist Muslims and are
carefully monitored by ASIO.
Sheik Omran says he does not support terrorism and claims he is a force for
peace within Australia's fundamentalist Muslim community.
But he admits to knowing many people who have been jailed for terrorist
activities around the world. These include his long-time friend Abu Qutadar,
the suspected head of al-Qaedain Europe, who is under arrest in Britain, and
Bashir, who is serving a jail sentence in Indonesia.
Sheik Omran was recently named in Spanish court documents as having links
with the suspected leader of al-Qaedain Spain, Abu Dahdah - claims which the
sheik has denied.
Sheik Omran has also revealed that shortly before the Olympics, he was also
told by another sheik that Hussein was planning a second bombing.
The 49-year-old Jordanian-born Sheik Omran has spent almost 20 years
teaching his conservative brand of Islam in Australia, gaining a reputation
of the "wisest of the wise" among fundamentalists who go to him for advice
on issues affecting their community.
In interviews with The Weekend Australian, Sheik Omran's followers
said they would go to him ahead of ASIO if they suspected one of their group
was planning a terrorist act.
"The sheik enjoys prominence and influence over the most fundamentalist part
of the Muslim community," Mr Fergus said. "This means he can be a powerful
force for good, but it means that he can also cause harm."
Contributed by Mayer Nudell, CSC, Specialized Consulting
Services Arlington, Virginia, USA |
