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Al-Qaeda plotted to attack Australia before 9-11: Howard
Sydney, May 29: Osama bin Laden`s Al-Qaeda terrorist network was plotting to attack Australia months before launching the September 11, 2001, onslaught on the United States, Prime Minister John Howard said today.
Sydney, May 29: Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terrorist network was plotting to attack Australia months before launching the September 11, 2001, onslaught on the United States, Prime Minister John Howard said today.
At the same time authorities announced that an Australian national with suspected links to Al-Qaeda had been arrested this week in Egypt.
"I can now inform the House that new information has come to light very recently indicating that Al-Qaeda explored possible targets in Australia in 2000 or 2001," Howard told Parliament. "These reports indicate that Al-Qaeda's interest in mounting attacks in Australia actually pre-date the 11th of September 2001 attacks in New York and Washington," he said.
Howard did not elaborate on the nature of the new information or what targets in Australia may have been considered for attack.
But he said there was no current threat warranting an upgrade of the country's already high terrorism alert. Howard said the new information contradicted critics who have charged that his Conservative government had made Australia a target for terrorists by contributing troops to the US-led wars against Al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan and against Iraq.
"Al-Qaeda's targeting of Australia does not derive from our military involvement in Afghanistan or Iraq ... But from the fact we are a western nation with western values that are abhorrent to the militant theology which is at the heart of Al-Qaeda," he said. Bureau Report
"I can now inform the House that new information has come to light very recently indicating that Al-Qaeda explored possible targets in Australia in 2000 or 2001," Howard told Parliament. "These reports indicate that Al-Qaeda's interest in mounting attacks in Australia actually pre-date the 11th of September 2001 attacks in New York and Washington," he said.
Howard did not elaborate on the nature of the new information or what targets in Australia may have been considered for attack.
But he said there was no current threat warranting an upgrade of the country's already high terrorism alert. Howard said the new information contradicted critics who have charged that his Conservative government had made Australia a target for terrorists by contributing troops to the US-led wars against Al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan and against Iraq.
"Al-Qaeda's targeting of Australia does not derive from our military involvement in Afghanistan or Iraq ... But from the fact we are a western nation with western values that are abhorrent to the militant theology which is at the heart of Al-Qaeda," he said. Bureau Report