Australia anti-terror police arrest two in Sydney

Australian police said they did not believe an attack was imminent

Counter-terrorism police in Sydney have arrested two men, charging one with possession of documents designed to facilitate a terrorist attack.

The other suspect was charged with breaching a control order.

The arrests were related to a series of counter-terrorism raids in September, officials said.
They come after Australia's prime minister said there had been heightened "terror chatter" since a cafe siege in Sydney last week.

That saw gunman Man Haron Monis, a self-styled cleric originally from Iran, take 17 people hostage in a cafe in the city centre. A 16-hour siege followed, during which two hostages and Haron Monis were killed.

On Wednesday, Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan said the man arrested on the terrorism charge, 20-year-old Sulayman Khalid, had documents that mentioned potential government targets.

"I am confident that we've disrupted the activity that they were planning," he said.
But he added: "There is nothing that indicates at all that [there were] any specific targets or time frame in relation to this particular activity at all."

Two people and the gunman died in Sydney last week after a 16-hour siege

Mr Khalid, who did not apply for bail, could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted. The 21-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also denied bail.

Judges can issue control orders against persons of interest in criminal cases, imposing restrictions on them. The 21-year-old man had breached an order preventing him from accessing certain forms of telecommunications.
'Terrorist sympathisers' After raids in Sydney and Brisbane in September, police said they had foiled a plot to "commit violent acts" in Australia, including a plan to behead a member of the public.

Police say 11 people have now been arrested and charged with terrorism-related offences since the start of the campaign, which began soon after Australia's terror threat level was raised to "high" for the first time.
Mr Phelan said the ideology of the group targeted in the raids was linked to that of militant group Islamic State, and that its members were accused of helping people travel overseas to fight with extremists.

After a meeting of the National Security Committee on Tuesday, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said there had been "a heightened level of chatter amongst people who we would normally think of as terrorist sympathisers".

"We don't know when and how an attack may come, but we do know there are people with the intent and the capability to carry out further attacks," he said.

'Keep going, Martin Place was just the beginning for you dogs': Melbourne extremist taunts police with vile tweets and claims to have joined ISIS in Iraq

• Australian man claiming to have joined ISIS has contacted a Sydney activist on Twitter.
• A vocal critic of ISIS in Australia, Zaky Mallah, engaged in a Twitter conversation with 'Abu Abdullah' who claims to be fighting with ISIS in Iraq.
• After monitoring Abdullah's Twitter account Mr Mallah has found threats directed towards the Australian Federal Police.
• He discovered that Abdullah's real name may be Jake and he has made contact with a friend he knew at Melbourne's Hume Islam Youth Centre.
• 'He’s clearly creating a network of people he knows in Australia,’ Mr Mallah said:

A Melbourne man claiming to be fighting for ISIS in Iraq has tweeted a threat on social media to the Australian Federal Police and vowed to carry out a fatwa on Australia.

Zaky Mallah, the first person charged with terrorism in Australia was contacted on Christmas Eve by a man on Twitter using the name Abu Abdullah. 

ISIS IN IRAQ

Mr Mallah, 30, from Westmead in Sydney was jailed in maximum security for two years before being acquitted of terrorism charges. Just four hours into the Sydney siege counter terrorism police also asked him for an ISIS flag to help with their investigations. 

As a moderate Mr Mallah is now a very vocal critic of ISIS in Australia. It was because of this that he was contacted by Abdullah who he now believes is from Melbourne. Abdullah began tweeting him questions asking why he was against ISIS. Since then Mr Mallah has been monitoring Abdullah's other Twitter conversations.

‘What struck me the most was that some of things he said on Twitter were very disturbing and he also commented on the Australian Federal Police’s Twitter account calling them ‘dogs’,’ Mr Mallah said. 

‘What I think I have have learned from his conversations on Twitter with me and others is that he is an Australian called Jake who used to live in Melbourne. He’s already tried to make contact on Twitter with a friend of his at the Hume Islam Youth Centre (HIYC) in Melbourne.

On Christmas Day he let his friend know he was in Ramadi in Iraq 

On Christmas Eve ‘Abdullah’ tweeted a friend: ‘Remember me? Revert at hiyc, tall, white, skinny, long hair, we used to speak on Facebook.’ When his friend replied that he remembered him, Abdullah said: ‘I finally made hijra in August, I’m in Ramadi now.’ Ramadi is a city in central Iraq.

The HIYC is based in Motto Drive Coolaroo, Victoria, but no one could be contacted for a response.

Later on Christmas Day Abdullah tweeted: ‘That’s twice now I’ve seriously considered coming back and following Sheikh Adnani’s fatwa in Australia.’ Shaykh Abu Mohammad al-Adnani al-Shami is the official spokesman and a senior leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Abdullah tweets that he would only be too happy to see a fatwa take place in Australia  

On Boxing Day he replied to a tweet posted by the Australian Federal Police about two men who had charged by the Joint Terrorism Team in Sydney saying: ‘Keep going, Martin Place was just the beginning for you dogs.’

The police are taunted by Abdullah after they reveal that the Joint Counter Terrorism Squad had made arrests

While in another tweet he admitted to a friend he had been banned from Facebook for things he had written.

‘This guy is serious enough to leave Australia and join ISIS so all the signs are there. It’s a new Twitter account. We don’t know what he’s up to but through Twitter he’s clearly creating a network of people he knows in Australia,’ Mr Mallah said.

Security in Australia has been raised as the threat of ISIS attacks becomes more worrying  

In response to the revelations a spokesperson for the Attorney-General’s Department said they would continue to do all they can to support community leaders, who play 'a critical role in dissuading young Australians from becoming radicalised and travelling to the conflict zones to fight.'

'The government is committed to working with our communities to combat the radicalisation of young Australians and violent extremism. We have consulted with experts and with representatives of the community on the best way to keep the Australian community safe,' the spokesperson said. 

Mr Mallah, 30, from Westmead in Sydney was jailed in maximum security for two years before being acquitted of terrorism charges

In 2003 Mr Mallah was the first person to be charged with terrorism back after he made a video which Federal Police and ASIO said contained a planned suicide attack on federal government offices in Sydney.

A Lebanese Australian, Mr Mallah was charged under Australia's then new anti-terrorism laws after he made the video. He spent two years in the high maximum security Multi Purpose Unit at Goulburn prison awaiting trial, before being acquitted.

Since the rise of ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra he has become very outspoken against them. Today he sees them only as 'a barbaric cult' .