Australian terrorism fears intensify

A bomb-disposal expert in Green Valley, southwest of Sydney, after anti-terror raids. Ian Waldie / Getty Images

CANBERRA - The arrest of a radical Muslim cleric on terrorism charges yesterday and the planned deportation of another have heightened fears of deadly homegrown fundamentalist cells prepared to wage war on Australia.

Melbourne cleric Abdul Nacer Benbrika, also known as Abu Bakir, who has publicly supported Osama bin Laden, was yesterday accused of being the spiritual leader of an alleged terror group planning attacks on Sydney and Melbourne.

On Monday a court refused to quash a deportation order against Iranian-born Sheik Mansour Lehaei, identified by intelligence officials as a threat to national security.

Both were among an outspoken group who have preached jihad against the West, backed terror acts abroad, and in some cases preached that Islam cannot exist side-by-side with a secular Australian state.

The radicals have been condemned by Prime Minister John Howard and moderate Muslim leaders, who set up a new Muslim Reference Group after a summit in Canberra to address concerns about possible terror cells.

A key recommendation of that summit was oversight of independent Muslim schools to head off possible indoctrination of the young with militant fundamentalism.

The leaders of Australia's more than 280,000 Muslims have consistently condemned terrorism both home and abroad and have been working to reduce tensions that have followed major international outrages.

But fears of homegrown terror have increased since the London bombings, carried out by British-born Muslims, and repeated warnings by intelligence agencies that terror cells were active in Australia.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation's most recent annual report warned that it continued to identify Australians who had undergone terrorist training, and had identified Australians linked to extremists abroad.

In August, federal police said they were tracking as many as 60 known terrorists within the country.

This followed allegations that radical convert Jack Roche was planning to to attack Israeli interests in Australia, and alleged French terrorist Willy Brigitte and associates in Sydney were preparing attacks.

ASIO warned that Islamic extremists in Australia tended to follow a Salafist interpretation of Islam.

This preaches hostility and isolation towards the broader Australian society, and towards countries perceived to be attacking Islam - as Australia was seen to be in Iraq.