Australia detains terror suspects
时间:2009-08-04 08:47:05
搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。
(单词翻译)
Australian police have
arrested(逮捕) four people in the city of Melbourne after uncovering what they say was a plot to launch a
suicide(自杀) attack.
The group was planning to carry out the attack on an army base, police said.
More than 400 officers were involved in searching 19 properties across the city before dawn on Tuesday.
The suspects are Australian nationals of Somali and Lebanese descent; one man,
aged1 25, has been charged with
conspiring2 to plan a terrorist act.
Nayaf El Sayed, from the Glenroy district of Melbourne, was remanded in
custody3 until 26 October.
He did not enter a plea or apply for
bail4, and refused to stand for the
magistrate5 in court.
His lawyer told the hearing: "He believes he should not stand for any man except God."Police were granted extra time to question three others - Saney Aweys, Yacqub Khayre and Abdirahman Ahmed.
A fifth man, who had been detained earlier, was also being questioned about the
alleged6 plot.
'Sobering'
"Police believe members of a Melbourne-based group have been
undertaking7 planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Australia and [are] allegedly involved in
hostilities8 in Somalia," a police statement said.
Police carried out raids on 19 locations"The men's intention was to actually go into the army barracks and to kill as many soldiers as they could before they themselves were killed," said Tony Negus,
acting9 chief
commissioner10 of the Australian Federal Police.
Holsworthy Barracks on the
outskirts11 of Sydney was one of the planned targets, according to police.
The attack would have been the most serious terrorist attack on Australian soil, Mr Negus added.
"Members of the group have been
actively12 seeking a fatwa or religious ruling to
justify13 a terror attack on Australia," he said.
Prosecutors14 told the court they had evidence some of the men had taken part in training and fighting in Somalia.
They also said there were phone
conversations(会话), text messages and surveillance footage, including footage of one of the suspects outside the Holsworthy army base, linking the suspects to an alleged attack.
The court heard the men planned to seek a fatwa, or religious ruling, to support an attack on the Holsworthy army base.
Meeting Somalia's al-ShababAustralian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said: "The sobering element of today's development is the
reminder15 to all Australians that the threat of terrorism is alive and well, and this requires continued vigilance on the part of our security authorities."The country's security level is unchanged at medium, where it has been since 2003.
The police said the raids followed a seven-month operation involving several state and federal agencies.
Police believe those arrested are linked to the Somali-based al-Shabab group, which seeks to
overthrow16 the weak UN-backed Somali government and is believed to have links to al-Qaeda.
(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)
分享到: