Australian police have studied JI attack plans, official says<\/p>\n
Agencies, Sydney<\/p>\n
Australian police have their best understanding ever of the
\nSoutheast Asian terror network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) after
\nstudying attack plans made by the militant Islamic organization,
\nnational police chief Mick Keelty said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a counter-terrorism forum, Keelty said Indonesian
\nauthorities had given Australian Federal Police access to plans
\ntaken from JI, the organization behind a series of bombings in
\nBali, Jakarta and elsewhere which have left scores dead.<\/p>\n
\"We now... have a better understanding of Jamaah Islamiyah
\nthan what we ever had,\" Keelty said. \"We now have... access to
\nsome of their plans (and)... the future plans that they had in
\nplace.\"<\/p>\n
Australian police have been working closely with Indonesian
\nofficers to crack down on Islamic militants since October 2002
\nbombings of a Bali nightclub strip left 202 people dead including
\n88 Australians.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month Indonesian police killed master bombmaker
\nAzahari Husin, who was suspected of involvement in the Bali
\nbombings of 2002 and the Oct. 1 blasts on the island, in a shoot-
\nout in an East Java town.<\/p>\n
Keelty said the JI attack plans included sophisticated
\nintelligence and surveillance of targets.<\/p>\n
A considerable amount of planning went into operations, he
\nsaid, adding: \"We've got to make sure we are equal to those sort
\nof plans by the terrorists.<\/p>\n
\"We've obviously said that there's nothing that we've done in
\nthis country to make us immune and I think the important thing
\nfor us is that we are prepared and that we maintain our
\npreparation,\" Keelty said.<\/p>\n
He did not disclose any of the group's potential targets.<\/p>\n
Keelty's comments came after a video was aired last week in
\nwhich a masked man believed to be key Jamaah Islamiyah leader
\nNoordin M. Top threatened attacks against Australia, the United
\nStates, Britain and Italy.<\/p>\n
The video was among several seized recently from Noordin's
\nhastily abandoned safehouse in Indonesia's Central Java province.
\nIt was not clear if the plans Keelty referred to were recovered
\nat the same time.<\/p>\n
\"As long as you keep your troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and
\nintimidate Muslim people, you will feel our intimidation and our
\nterror,\" the man believed to be Noordin said in the video.<\/p>\n
Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna earlier told the conference
\nthat Australia would probably experience a terror attack within a
\nfew years by \"home-grown\" extremists.<\/p>\n
\"The most dangerous threat to Australia today comes from home-
\ngrown networks -- what we call the resident threat,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The threat that primarily stems from the radicalized segments
\nof the Muslim community in Australia -- this is the primary
\nthreat.\"<\/p>\n
Gunaratna said there were between 200 and 300 Muslims in
\nAustralia who supported violent extremism as well as a \"small but
\nrobust\" terror network operating within the country.<\/p>\n
Australian police this month arrested 18 Muslim men in Sydney
\nand Melbourne on terrorism-related charges.<\/p>\n
All were Australian-born or naturalized citizens and officials
\naccused them of plotting a \"catastrophic\" act of terrorism,
\nalthough no precise targets were specified.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/australian-police-have-studied-ji-attack-plans-official-says-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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