Australian authorities arrested 17 suspected terrorists on Tuesday and claim they have foiled a potential terrorist plot by men sympathetic to Osama bin Laden and committed to 'violent jihad.'
The ringleader of the group was described as a Muslim cleric named Abdul Nacer Benbrika who also goes by the name Abu Bakr. He is an Australian citizen born in Algeria.
Coordinated arrests were carried out in Melbourne and Sydney. Police say they found weapons and bomb-making materials when they made their raids. The arrests followed a 16-month long investigation according to police commissioner Graeme Morgan.
'I was satisfied that this state was under an imminent threat of potentially a catastrophic terrorist act,' announced New South Wales Police Minister Carl Scully.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard thanked his country's security forces during a nationally televised address.
'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. It's important that we continue to mobilize all of the resources of the commonwealth and the states to fight terrorism.'
At the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday, Prosecutor Richard Maidment said the defendants had formed a terrorist group to kill 'innocent men and women in Australia.'
'The members of the Sydney group have been gathering chemicals of a kind that were used in the London Underground bombings,' Maidment said.
He added, 'Each of the members of the group are committed to the cause of violent jihad.' Maidment alleged that the suspects underwent military-style training at a rural camp northeast of Melbourne.
In an interview with Australia's ABC network last August, Abu Bakr said he supports the aims of al-Qaeda and heaped praise on its founder, Osama bin Laden.
'Osama bin Laden, he is a great man,' Abu Bakr said. 'Osama was a great man before 11 September. They said he did it and until now nobody knows who did it.'
While bin Laden remains at large, Abu Bakr is now in custody. No hearing date has been set as of yet for the defendants in this case.
