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Alleged Sydney-Melbourne terrorist ring

As of early March 2007 nine men charged with Australia's largest terrorist conspiracy were undergoing commital hearings at Penrith for alleged crimes associated with a plan to attack Sydney's Lucas Heights Nuclear Reactor.

The men have been in a maximum security jail since 2005 when police and security agencies raided homes in Sydney and Melbourne, arresting a total of 18 men.

Nine men face terrorism charges in Melbourne.

Police allege the Sydney men had been urged by their Muslim cleric leader to inflict maximum damage for the sake of jihad.

Police said the men had attended terrorist training camps in Australia, stockpiled chemicals to make explosives and that one of them was found with 165 railway detonators at his home.

The hearing is expected to run for two months.

Islam-related terrorism organisations

In 2002, a range of terrorist organisation offences were enacted enabling Australian governments to deal with organisations involved in terrorism.

As at early April 2007, there were 19 organisations listed as terrorist organisations by the Australian government.. All but one of those organisations are associated to Islamic ideology:

• The Abu Sayyaf Group. From a base in the Southern islands of the Philippines, this group has affirmed a goal of creating a pan-Islamic superstate across Southeast Asia.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
• Al Qaeda. This is a militant Qutbist Sunni Islamist terrorist organization established in 1988.
• Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (the al-Zarqawi group, also known as al Qa'ida in Iraq, or The Organization for the Foundation of the Holy Struggle in Mesopotamia. This organisation associates itself with Al-Qa'ida and is a successor of Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Arabic: جماعة التوحيد والجهاد)‎ - the Unification (Monotheism) and the Holy Struggle Group)
• Ansar al-Sunna (formerly known as Ansar Al-Islam)
• Armed Islamic Group: a group based in northern and central Iraq, and including Kurdish groups, Sunni Arab religious radicals, and others.
• Asbat al-Ansar ("the League of the Followers" or "Partisans’ League") This is an organization of Sunni Islamists based in southern Lebanon.
• Egyptian Islamic Jihad, also called Islamic Jihad and the Jihad Group. They have an association to the Muslim Brotherhood. They have declared a goal to overthrow the Egyptian Government and replace it with an Islamic state.
• The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, a militant wing of Hamas (Arabic: حركة حماس‎; acronym: Arabic: حركة المقاومة الاسلامية‎, or Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya or "Islamic Resistance Movement".
• The Hizballah External Security Organisation (Al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya - "The Islamic Resistance"). Hezbollah (Arabic: حزب الله‎ ḥizbu-llāh, meaning "party of God") is a Shi'a Islamic political and paramilitary organization based in Lebanon. It propounds a version of Islamic Shi'a ideology developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
• The Islamic Army of Aden. This is a terrorist group based in southern Yemen.
• Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, also known as the Islamic Party of Turkestan (IPT). This is an Islamic terrorist organization within the Islamic Movement of Central Asia that has operated in and beyond Uzbekistan since 1998. The IMU's goal is to overthrow the Government of Uzbekistan and replace it with an Islamic State.
• Jaish-e-Mohammed (Arabic:جيش محمد, literally The Army of Muhammad. This is a major Islamic militant organization in South Asia. formed in 1994 and based in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The group's primary motive is to end India's rule in Kashmir.
• Jamiat ul-Ansar (formerly known as Harakat Ul-Mujahideen): a militant Islamist organization founded in 1993 that is particularly active in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Jemaah Islamiyah: a Southeast Asian militant Islamic organization dedicated to the establishment of a Daulah Islamiyah (pan-Islamic superstate in Southeast Asia).
• Lashkar I Jhangvi(English: Army of Jhang): a Wahabi Islamic terrorist organization affiliated with Al Qaeda that has operated in Pakistan since 1997 with a particular focus upon victimising the Pakistani Shia Muslim community.
• Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. This organisation's primary objectives are to end Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir, and to establish Islamic rule over all of India and the world
• Palestinian Islamic Jihad: and organisation declaring a goal of destroying Israel and replacement it with a Palestinian Islamic state.
• Salafist Group for Call and Combat: a militant Wahhabist Sunni Islamist group which aims to overthrow the Algerian government and institute an Islamic state there.

For listing, an organisation may be found to be such by a court as part of a prosecution for a terrorist offence or the same may be specified in regulations upon the motion of the Attorney-General of Australia.

Under Australian law it is an offence to materially support or be supported by such organisations.

Terrorist organisations

The Hezbollah External Security Organization was most recently listed as a terrorist organisation by the ASIO on 5 June 2005. The Australian government has noted Hezbollah's aim 'to create a Shi-a Islamic state in Lebanon and remove all Western and Israeli influences in the region'.

On 19 February 2007, Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock announced that Al-Zarqawi Tanzim Qa'idat Al-Jihad Fi Bilad Al-Rafidayn (also known as al Qa'ida in Iraq) was being relisted as a terorist group.

See also

• Australian anti-terrorism legislation, 2004
• Australian Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005
• Crime in Australia
• Islamist terrorism
• 2002 Bali bombings
• 2005 Bali bombings

Notes

1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/06/AR2007030600686.html
2. http://www.comlaw.gov.au/comlaw/Legislation/Act1.nsf/0/3FE76064F1487C39CA25722D00069043/$file/065-2002.doc The Security Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Act 2002 - Australian federal legislation.
3. http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/WWW/NationalSecurity.nsf/Page/What_Governments_are_doingListing_of_Terrorism_Organisations
4. http://www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/ministerruddockhome.nsf/Page/Media_Releases_2007_First_Quarter_0312007_-_19_February_2007_-_Re-listing_of_Al-Zarqawi_(tanzim_qa&apos
5. United States Department of State. "Asbat al-Ansar)". Retrieved 2006-07-20. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
6. Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
9. Lashkar-e-Toiba,BBC
10. [http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/agd/www/nationalsecurity.nsf/AllDocs/7986D1536C0FFD5FCA256FCD001BE859?OpenDocument 'Hizballah External Security Organisation' - Australian Government
11. http://www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/ministerruddockhome.nsf/Page/Media_Releases_2007_First_Quarter_0312007_-_19_February_2007_-_Re-listing_of_Al-Zarqawi_(tanzim_qa&apos

• Crime in Australia
• Islam in Australia
• Islamist terrorism