Steve Quayle News Alerts

Dec. 3, 2002
Tanya Targett and Anthony Marx

ISLAMIC extremists linked to outlawed terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah fired weapons and conducted close-quarters combat training in a remote forest outside Melbourne.

Attendees at the weekend camps, which have run for the past five years, are believed to include at least one of the Perth families ASIO raided in October.

The Courier-Mail's Insight team also has been told that senior UK-based Al-Qaeda operative Abu Qatada, accused of being a key influence in the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, attended the camp as a spiritual guest speaker.

While Australian law enforcement officers maintain Qatada, in custody in the UK, was refused entry as he tried to enter Australia in the 1990s, leading Muslims claim otherwise.

Sheikh Taj el din Al-Hilaly, Australia's most prominent Muslim leader maintains Qatada not only entered the country in the 1990s but engaged in a speaking tour as well.

And Fehmi Naji El-Imam, the Imam (priest) of Melbourne's Preston Mosque, confirmed yesterday that Qatada – also known as Omar Mohammed Othman – spoke to his congregation.

While Sheikh Fehmi said he could not remember exactly what Qatada preached, he remembered the cleric as a "good speaker" who spoke of Islam in general and toured "various cities".

"At the time, nobody knows Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda just created lately. Don't you worry, if we know he's coming back we will inform the necessary authority."

Well-placed intelligence sources claim ASIO found spent cartridges at the undisclosed state forest training camp and listened in on some of the spiritual discussions.

Extremist Indonesian political movement, Ahlus Sunnah wal Jammah, which is associated with terrorist group Laskar Jihad (LJ) was believed to have organised the camps.

Insight understands the close-knit group, known for its secrecy and fundamentalist ideology, is based at the Preston Mosque.

Sheikh Fehmi said while mosque patrons ran many summer camps for children and adults, he was not aware of mosque patrons or members organising military camps.

But Sheikh Fehmi said the existence of such camps, or the presence of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jammah could not be ruled out as the mosque had between 500 and 1000 members.

Insight further understands camp attendees, from all parts of Australia, have Algerian, Somali, Lebanese, Palestinian and Philippine backgrounds, with some Philippino members linked to JI.

Investigations also reveal members of the Sydney-based extremist group Islamic Youth Movement, which publishes a pro-terrorist magazine, have attended the camps. Attempts to contact the Islamic Youth Movement were unsuccessful.

Militant Islamic warriors, who fought in Afghanistan or Somalia, also were alleged to have led camp training sessions which involved target practice and a walk-through combat shooting range.

An intelligence source said: ". . . it was a chance to do bonding and maintain and pass on skills because there was a phobia that they were being targeted in the community and they needed to have these weapons for self-protection."

Insight understands Perth father David Suparta attended the camps at least once.

However, Mr Suparta, who has admitted owning a gun, said he had not been to Melbourne and had not attended training camps anywhere in the country.

Mr Suparta is understood to have been an associate of twin brothers Abdul Rahim Ayub and Abdur Ahaman Ayub, both of Perth. The men, who have been accused of being JI operatives, were also raided by ASIO.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/03/1038712914684.html