Syrian terror strikes home as Australian mother arrested and charged with supporting terrorism
Geoff Chambers and Mark Morrie
The Daily Telegraph
May 5 2014
POLICE had to call in reinforcements after a group of hard line Muslims gathered at a Sydney police station clamouring for the release of a woman later charged with supporting terrorism.
The mother-of-four was arrested as she allegedly tried to board a flight in Sydney carrying cash and equipment — believed to include camouflage gear — for her husband fighting in Syria.
Why does our government bother with these embedded Insurgents ? simply let them go anywhere they want cancel their passports the minute their flight reaches their intended destination, in this case one less embedded Muslim breeder and a bonus of four future savages no longer resident in Australia a win win they are no longer in Australia and hopefully they will be killed engaging in their cause in whatever Islamic shit hole it is they are fighting in.
These Savages are NOT Australians they never were and never will be they embedded Muslim Insurgents living on Australian soil granted Australian Passports by the previous Union GetUp funded Labor Green Loon Rudd/ Gillard / Rudd Minority "Co Party Government" in exchange for their VOTE.
Joint Counter Terrorism detectives stopped the 29-year-old and her four young children as they attempted to board the flight about 8.30pm on Saturday.
EDITORIAL: THE IMPORT OF ISLAMIC BATTLES MUST END
A police spokesman said the Brisbane woman was taken to Mascot police station and later charged.
Three search warrants were also executed — two in Sydney and one in Brisbane.
Hardline supporters arrived at the police station after news of the woman’s arrest was posted on social media, with police forced to call for back-up to deal with them.
She was granted strict conditional bail by police and will appear at Downing Centre Local Court on June 2.
“The Brisbane woman was taken to the Mascot police station, where she was charged under the Crimes (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment) Act 1978,” the spokesman said.
“She was charged with supporting incursions into a foreign state with the intention of engaging in hostile activities.”
Sources have confirmed the mother was allegedly carrying an amount of cash and other supplies — believed to include camouflage gear — on behalf of her husband, who is in Syria.
The Al-Risalah Facebook page — a meeting place for young Muslims — yesterday claimed the woman’s passport had been confiscated.
“As per the sister who was stopped at the airport last night she and her kids are now safe with family but passport has been taken,” the post said.
Previous posts on Facebook about the arrest were removed after the woman’s family contacted the page’s convener.
While inner-west Sydney remains the hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism in the country, a tangled web of networks runs along the east coast from Brisbane down to Melbourne. In September, reports emerged of a 27-year-old Brisbane man becoming Australia’s first suicide bomber in Syria after a video showed the bombing of a military checkpoint, killing 35 people.
Al-Qaeda group Jabhat Al Nusra took responsibility for the attack.
More than 100 Australians, many from NSW and mostly young men, have travelled to Syria via alleged terrorist support networks linked to Jabhat Al Nusra and State of Iraq and the Levant movements.
The total number of Australians killed in Syria is believed to be eight, including Melbourne men Roger Abbas and Yusuf Toprakkaya.
Former Sydney soldier Caner Temel, who went AWOL from his Brisbane barracks and was later discharged, was killed by gunfire from other anti-Assad rebels in January.
The 22-year-old left behind a wife and baby.
Couple Yusuf Ali and Amira Karroum — also aged 22 — were killed in the same month.
Ali, a US-Australian citizen, grew up in suburban Brisbane and converted to Islam, later becoming a street preacher. Just last week, FBI director James Comey said the flow of foreign fighters into Syria had grown in the past few months.
Up to 5500 foreign fighters have travelled to Syria to fight and Mr Comey compared the flow with Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s.
AUSSIES ALLEGEDLY RECRUITED TO FIGHT Geoff Chambers
AS President Bashar al-Assad wrestles back control of Syria, Islamic fighters struggle to hold on to their gains. While the exact figure is unknown, it is estimated more than 100 Australian Muslims have travelled to Syria to fight alongside al-Qaeda affiliated rebels.
The number of passports cancelled by ASIO has soared to record levels, preventing people from travelling to Syria on security grounds. In March, it was reported 33 passports were cancelled in eight months.
Last month, the Lowy Institute report Next-Gen Jihad in the Middle East reiterated concerns of the Abbott government and NSW Police about young men returning to Australia with combat training.
“In the coming years Australia will face a more complex and serious terrorist threat than it did after 9/11,” Lowy Institute research director Anthony Bubalo said.
Alleged terrorist organiser Hamdi Alqudsi, based in Sydney’s west, is accused of organising six young men, including slain former soldier Caner Temel and US-Australian convert Yusuf Ali, to travel to Syria. The 39-year-old was charged late last year, accused of being “actively involved” in the recruitment of six men, facilitating their flights to Syria to fight alongside al-Qaeda affiliated terror organisation Jabhat Al Nusra.
Assistant Commissioner Peter Dein recently said it had become “obvious” to anti-terror police that Islamic radicals were actively recruiting on southwest Sydney streets.
A blog revealing the horrors of Islam,International Socialism,the misery these two evils are inflicting upon the free the world,and those it has already enslaved,along with various articles revealing the attacks from within upon the western Judeo Christian ethic by those we entrusted to preserve it. Videos and Pictures of many varied subjects from around the world, along with some jokes of mine and any funny ones you want to send me.
Quote
Warning to all Muslims the world over seeking asylum and protection from the manifestations of their faith.
Do not under any circumstances come to Australia, for we are a Nation founded upon Judeo Christian Law and principles and as such Australia is an anathema to any follower of the Paedophile Slave Trader Mohammad's cult of Islam.
There is no ideology more hated and despised in Australia than Islam.You simply would not like it here.
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Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
Voltaire French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 - 1778)
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Those who demand you believe that Islam is a Religion of Peace also demand you believe in Anthropogenic Global Warming.
Aussie News & Views Jan 1 2009
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"But Communism is the god of discontent, and needs no blessing. All it needs is a heart willing to hate, willing to call envy “justice."
Equality then means the violent destruction of all social and cultural distinctions. Freedom means absolute dictatorship over the people."
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Take Hope from the Heart of Man and you make him a Beast of Prey-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“ If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival.
“There may be even a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves”
Winston Churchill. Pg.310 “The Hell Makers” John C. Grover ISBN # 0 7316 1918 8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. Winston Churchill. Pg.310 “The Hell Makers” John C. Grover ISBN # 0 7316 1918 8
This matters above everything.
—Confucius
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'a socialist is communist without the courage of conviction to say what he really is'.
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Hontar: We must work in the world, your eminence. The world is thus.
Altamirano: No, Señor Hontar. Thus have we made the world... thus have I made it.
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Voltaire said: “If you want to know who rules over you, just find out who you are not permitted to criticize.”
--------Check this out, what an Bum WOW!!!!
When those sworn to destroy you,Communism, Socialism,"Change you can Believe in" via their rabid salivating Mongrel Dog,Islam,take away your humanity, your God given Sanctity of Life, Created in His Image , If you are lucky this prayer is maybe all you have left, If you believe in God and his Son,Jesus Christ, then you are, despite the evils that may befall you are better off than most.
Lord, I come before You with a heavy heart. I feel so much and yet sometimes I feel nothing at all. I don't know where to turn, who to talk to, or how to deal with the things going on in my life. You see everything, Lord. You know everything, Lord. Yet when I seek you it is so hard to feel You here with me. Lord, help me through this. I don't see any other way to get out of this. There is no light at the end of my tunnel, yet everyone says You can show it to me. Lord, help me find that light. Let it be Your light. Give me someone to help. Let me feel You with me. Lord, let me see what You provide and see an alternative to taking my life. Let me feel Your blessings and comfort. Amen.
-----------------------------------------
"The chief weapon in the quiver of all Islamist expansionist movements, is the absolute necessity to keep victims largely unaware of the actual theology plotting their demise. To complete this deception, a large body of ‘moderates’ continue to spew such ridiculous claims as “Islam means Peace” thereby keeping non-Muslims from actually reading the Qur’an, the Sira, the Hadith, or actually looking into the past 1400 years of history. Islamists also deny or dismiss the concept of ‘abrogation’, which is the universal intra-Islamic method of replacing slightly more tolerable aspects of the religion in favor of more violent demands for Muslims to slay and subdue infidels"
*DO NOT CLICK ON ANY SENDVID VIDEOS *
Monday, May 05, 2014
Sydney's Occupied Territories, More Harmony Days Down Under : Embedded Muslim Savages lays siege to Sydney Police Station, following arrest at Sydney's Kingsford Smith International Airport of Female Muslim Terrorist Supporter, Police forced to call in reinforcements as Police station besieged by Embedded Muslim Mob.
Saturday, May 03, 2014
These are the People, the Nation, that the ACTU GetUp funded Labor Green Loon "Co Party" are so worried about offending?
Tom Singer and Hanabeth Luke,Tom Singer died a month later in Brisbane.
FOR the survivors of the Bali bomb attacks it is a terrifying tally, but for the families of the 92 Australians killed it is simply heartbreaking.
- 92 Australians were killed in the 2002 and 2005 attacks
- All 36 terrorists who were not sentenced to life are now free
- Five men form the two attacks remain behind bars
- Up to 100 more terrorist could be free by next year
FOR the survivors of the Bali bomb attacks it is a terrifying tally, but for the families of the 92 Australians killed it is simply heartbreaking.
Peter Wayne Graham Scott, 63, Paedophile Cromer High: Calling all Fathers, Men,or those who aspire to one day, be a Man.
You are a Man,you and your wife have a Son at a Public High School,on Sydney's leafy Northern Beaches,Cromer High.
Your Son,along with four other children is Drugged and Raped by his Australian Council of Trade Unions NSW Teachers Federation member/ Comrade Peter Wayne Graham Scott.
This Married "man" was drugging and shoving his dick up the rectums and or into the mouths of eleven to fifteen year old Male students entrusted into his care.
How much money did the ACTU's, NSW Teachers Federation spend, defending, facilitating, encouraging this piece of "Progressive" Shit?
If any of these five Boys were your Son what penalty would you feel was suitable for their School Teacher, who drugged and then stuck his dick up your Sons Rectum or pushed it into his mouth ?
Seven years and Six Months is all he will serve at most, under the NSW Legal system,after five or at most six years he will be given day release and will no doubt return to the Northern Beaches during his "Day Release" where upon he will do what Members of the NSW Teachers Federation do best, then return to Long Bay and share his "observations" at the Beach with his fellow Paedophiles.
With a bit of luck suffer "head injuries from bashing his forehead against a piece of exercise equipment", surely though he should have been given 20 plus years for each of his child victims to be served consecutively ie 100 years with say 80 years non parole
I believe that he should be beaten to Death, but hey that's just me, call me crazy, but I have witnessed first hand the likes of this Paedophile, I know how they work, me and fellow class mates have witnessed first hand how these "Artistic Types" "Progressive" "Free Thinking" "Proud " types operate and how their fellow Teachers Federation members cover for them in exchange for not been called Judgemental or Homophobic.
Former Cromer High School teacher jailed for 14 years sex abuse
Steven Deare
Manly Daily
May 2,2014
A FORMER teacher at Cromer High School convicted of indecently assaulting and having sex with students in the 1980s has been sentenced to 14 years in jail.
Peter Wayne Graham Scott,, 63, who earlier this year was found guilty of 14 offences relating to five male students from 1984 to 1986, was sentenced at the Downing
Centre District Court today.
Justice Sarah Huggett issued a non-parole period of seven years and six months.
“The offender was a married, mature man in his 30s, and I’m satisfied he committed each offence for his own sexual gratification,” she said.
His actions had stolen aspects of each victim’s childhood and changed the course of their lives, according to Justice Huggett.
She said the sentence was based on the more lenient penalties issued in the ’80s.
“It should be no indication of the penalties for these offences if they were committed today,” she said.
Scott’s offences took place at locations including the school,his Bilgola home and Jamieson Park at Narrabeen. The visual arts teacher would often share cannabis with students before engaging in intercourse. The five victims were aged between 11 and 15.
Earlier, these former students gave victim impact statements to the court.
Some told how Scott’s offences had confused them about their sexuality and self-worth.
One victim said Scott’s actions led him to spend 23 years as a heroin addict.
“You stole my youth, my innocence,” he said.
“You used Cromer High School students and me as a smorgasbord for your pervasive sexual appetite.
“You will not be known as Peter Wayne Scott or Scotty, as we used to call you.
“You will be known as Peter Wayne Scott, paedophile.”
See How the Beautiful People get away with ANYTHING !!!!!
Your Son,along with four other children is Drugged and Raped by his Australian Council of Trade Unions NSW Teachers Federation member/ Comrade Peter Wayne Graham Scott.
This Married "man" was drugging and shoving his dick up the rectums and or into the mouths of eleven to fifteen year old Male students entrusted into his care.
How much money did the ACTU's, NSW Teachers Federation spend, defending, facilitating, encouraging this piece of "Progressive" Shit?
If any of these five Boys were your Son what penalty would you feel was suitable for their School Teacher, who drugged and then stuck his dick up your Sons Rectum or pushed it into his mouth ?
Seven years and Six Months is all he will serve at most, under the NSW Legal system,after five or at most six years he will be given day release and will no doubt return to the Northern Beaches during his "Day Release" where upon he will do what Members of the NSW Teachers Federation do best, then return to Long Bay and share his "observations" at the Beach with his fellow Paedophiles.
With a bit of luck suffer "head injuries from bashing his forehead against a piece of exercise equipment", surely though he should have been given 20 plus years for each of his child victims to be served consecutively ie 100 years with say 80 years non parole
I believe that he should be beaten to Death, but hey that's just me, call me crazy, but I have witnessed first hand the likes of this Paedophile, I know how they work, me and fellow class mates have witnessed first hand how these "Artistic Types" "Progressive" "Free Thinking" "Proud " types operate and how their fellow Teachers Federation members cover for them in exchange for not been called Judgemental or Homophobic.
Former Cromer High School teacher jailed for 14 years sex abuse
Steven Deare
Manly Daily
May 2,2014
A FORMER teacher at Cromer High School convicted of indecently assaulting and having sex with students in the 1980s has been sentenced to 14 years in jail.
Centre District Court today.
Justice Sarah Huggett issued a non-parole period of seven years and six months.
“The offender was a married, mature man in his 30s, and I’m satisfied he committed each offence for his own sexual gratification,” she said.
His actions had stolen aspects of each victim’s childhood and changed the course of their lives, according to Justice Huggett.
She said the sentence was based on the more lenient penalties issued in the ’80s.
“It should be no indication of the penalties for these offences if they were committed today,” she said.
Scott’s offences took place at locations including the school,his Bilgola home and Jamieson Park at Narrabeen. The visual arts teacher would often share cannabis with students before engaging in intercourse. The five victims were aged between 11 and 15.
Earlier, these former students gave victim impact statements to the court.
Some told how Scott’s offences had confused them about their sexuality and self-worth.
One victim said Scott’s actions led him to spend 23 years as a heroin addict.
“You stole my youth, my innocence,” he said.
“You used Cromer High School students and me as a smorgasbord for your pervasive sexual appetite.
“You will not be known as Peter Wayne Scott or Scotty, as we used to call you.
“You will be known as Peter Wayne Scott, paedophile.”
See How the Beautiful People get away with ANYTHING !!!!!
Monday, April 28, 2014
The Bolt Report 27414
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
THEIR ABC Rushes to defend THEIR Favourite Savage, Thanks ADL Great work could you please STFUP NOW ?
Some of the "Cultural Enrichment" and "Harmony Day" Manifestations of Labor Green Loon's Multicultural VOTE People that the ADL Oppose below.
Sydney's Occupied Territories Skaf Rape Gang "I've got a slut with me bro, come to Punchbowl."
Skaf Rape Gang Victims will never forgive
Sydney's Occupied Territories Bilal Skaf Gang Rapist member known as "H" to be released on Parole... NOT LONG ENOUGH!!! Deport the Prick
Sydney's Occupied Territories:Wild Mob attack Police after Murder
Court Told Muslim Father of Paedophilia victim believes he did nothing wrong ... do they ever ?
THEIR ABC Again wont let go of their belief of Muslim Insurgents right to Colonise Australia
Australian Defence League Nathan Abela shot at.UPDATED 2
Australian Immigration Department stands firm against Insurgency and its fifth column supporters.
THE ISLAMIC JUGGERNAUT MARCHES ON
... and you can't even hear the footsteps
Australia,Sydney’s Occupied Territories,The SLIME of Multiculturalism jizzed over both sides of politics, when you lay down with DOGS you wake up with Muslims and Multiculturalism.
Hoxton Park Residents vow to fight
Latest on Diversity Day / Harmony Day / Survival Day, Culturally Sensitive and Cultural Enrichment Murder
UPDATE!!! Multicultural Sydney where " Sharia is always # 1", Cries for help from 15 year old girl Gang Raped in Parramatta City Mall ignored by passer by
Sydney's Occupied Territories Skaf Rape Gang "I've got a slut with me bro, come to Punchbowl."
Sydney's Occupied Territories : NSW Police seeking the " Usual Subjects" following sexual assaults on two sixteen year old girls in park. UPDATED
Creeping Sharia, Bendigo Bank chooses Islam over Australia
Sheik pleads guilty to sending offensive letters disguised as offers of condolence to army war widow
Pious Muslim "Black Magic" praticioner,Man Haron Monis arrested for sexual assault whilst on bail for accessory to murder of his former wife.
Sydney's Muslim Insurgency Riots Aftermath: Spin Doctors and apologists still performing CPR on Multiculturalism.
Labor Green Loon's Islamic Colonization of Australia :Truth worse than the Fiction
Australia's Labor Green Loon Co Party Government sets new Olympic Record for Islamic Colonization of Australia
Friday, April 18, 2014
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
A good news story that will have you sucking on a lemon to stop yourself from smiling
Aussies killed in US drone strike in Yemen
Paul Maley and Mark Schliebs
The Australian
April 16, 2014 12:00AM
TWO Australian citizens have been killed in a US airstrike in Yemen in what is the first known example of Australian extremists dying as a result of Washington’s highly controversial use of predator drones.
The Australian has been told the two men, believed to be in their 20s, were killed in a Predator drone strike on five al-Qa’ida militants travelling in a convoy of cars in Hadramout, in eastern Yemen, on November 19.
The men were Christopher Harvard of Townsville and a New Zealand dual citizen who went by the name “Muslim bin John’’ and fought under the alias “Abu Suhaib al-Australi’’.
The Australian government, which insists it was given no advance warning of the strike, has positively identified the remains of the men using DNA analysis, with samples taken from families of the two men.
It is understood at least one of the men, Harvard, was buried in Yemen, possibly as recently as last week, following prolonged discussions with his family, which hoped to repatriate his remains.
A senior counter-terrorism source told The Australian the men were “foot soldiers’’ for al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Qa’ida’s regional franchise based in Yemen.
It is understood US authorities notified Australian officials about the possibility Australian citizens might have been “collateral damage’’ in the strike, part of an ongoing campaign by the US and Yemeni governments to wipe out AQAP militants.
“The Americans advised us that they had intelligence that suggested they may have been in the car and may have been collateral damage,’’ the source said.
The two men were not the intended targets of the attack, which killed three other militants, including Abu Habib al-Yemeni, who appears to have been the primary target.
Abu Habib had reportedly travelled to Afghanistan in 1996 after al-Qa’ida left Sudan, and was a companion to al-Qa’ida leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a US military raid in May 2011. Authorities in Yemen sent DNA samples from all five victims to the Australian Federal Police. The samples, which consisted of tissue and bone fragments, positively identified the two Australians.
A spokeswoman for the AFP declined to comment, as did a spokesman for the US embassy in Canberra.
However, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed the nationality of the two men killed. It emphasised the Australian government had no prior knowledge of the strike.
“There was no Australian involvement in, or prior awareness of, the operation,” a spokesman said.
He said DFAT could confirm the deaths late last year of “two Australians in Yemen, one of whom was a dual-national’’.
“We understand the men were killed during a counter-terrorism operation and do not intend to discuss its details,” he said. “Police and consular officials in Australia, and in the dual-national’s country of other nationality, were in contact with the next of kin when the deaths were confirmed.
“The AFP assisted in the identification of remains.’’
Yesterday, Harvard’s stepfather, Neil Dowrick, said the family was told by the AFP in December that he had been killed in a counter-terrorism raid. Mr Dowrick said he received a letter from the government indicating his stepson had been buried in Yemen. “From what we understand, Chris was buried on Friday,” he said.
Mr Dowrick said Harvard’s family had sought assistance from the Australian government to repatriate his grandson’s remains from Yemen, as they could not afford to do so.
It is not certain when Harvard went to Yemen, but it is believed he arrived in 2011.
“From what I was told ... he went over to teach English,” Mr Dowrick said. “Chris told us that’s what he was going over there for.”
Mr Dowrick said he did not know what had prompted his stepson’s conversion to Islam.
“Whatever it was it straightened his life,’’ Mr Dowrick said. “Once he worked out what he needed to do in life, he changed his whole life.”
The five militants killed were eulogised on Twitter, which named them under their aliases as Abu Habib al-Yemeni, Abu Salma al-Russi, Abu Suhaib al-Australi, Waddah al-Hadramawti and Hammam al-Misri.
Abu Suhaib al-Australia was the alias used by Muslim bin John, while Abu Salma al-Russi is believed to refer to Harvard, although it mistakenly identifies him as “the Russian”.
The Australian has been told Harvard was unknown to Australian counter-terrorism officials before his arrival in Yemen.
Once there, however, he quickly showed up on the radar of intelligence agencies. It is understood there were several false reports of him having been killed before November.
Australian authorities knew little about Harvard’s companion and fellow victim, “Muslim bin John’’, a name that a source said appeared to have been changed by deed poll, either in Australia or New Zealand, where he was a citizen.
It is understood the two men did not know each other before meeting in Yemen.
“They were foot soldiers,’’ the counter-terrorism official said, concerning the role played by the two in AQAP. “And there was a suggestion they were involved in kidnapping Westerners for ransom.’’
Armed predator drones have emerged as the weapon of choice for US authorities bent on eliminating Islamic militants. Yemen and the tribal areas of Pakistan are the main theatres for drone warfare.
Both the Pentagon and the CIA operate drones in Yemen, which before the eruption of the Syrian civil war three years ago was the destination-of-choice for foreign extremists, including several Australians.
The US reportedly conducted more than 20 airstrikes in Yemen throughout last year, the majority from drones.
A spokeswoman for the US embassy declined to comment on the incident: “The United States uses all lawful means at its disposal and works closely with foreign partners and allies to mitigate the threats we face.”
Paul Maley and Mark Schliebs
The Australian
April 16, 2014 12:00AM
TWO Australian citizens have been killed in a US airstrike in Yemen in what is the first known example of Australian extremists dying as a result of Washington’s highly controversial use of predator drones.
The Australian has been told the two men, believed to be in their 20s, were killed in a Predator drone strike on five al-Qa’ida militants travelling in a convoy of cars in Hadramout, in eastern Yemen, on November 19.
The men were Christopher Harvard of Townsville and a New Zealand dual citizen who went by the name “Muslim bin John’’ and fought under the alias “Abu Suhaib al-Australi’’.
The Australian government, which insists it was given no advance warning of the strike, has positively identified the remains of the men using DNA analysis, with samples taken from families of the two men.
It is understood at least one of the men, Harvard, was buried in Yemen, possibly as recently as last week, following prolonged discussions with his family, which hoped to repatriate his remains.
A senior counter-terrorism source told The Australian the men were “foot soldiers’’ for al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Qa’ida’s regional franchise based in Yemen.
It is understood US authorities notified Australian officials about the possibility Australian citizens might have been “collateral damage’’ in the strike, part of an ongoing campaign by the US and Yemeni governments to wipe out AQAP militants.
“The Americans advised us that they had intelligence that suggested they may have been in the car and may have been collateral damage,’’ the source said.
The two men were not the intended targets of the attack, which killed three other militants, including Abu Habib al-Yemeni, who appears to have been the primary target.
Abu Habib had reportedly travelled to Afghanistan in 1996 after al-Qa’ida left Sudan, and was a companion to al-Qa’ida leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a US military raid in May 2011. Authorities in Yemen sent DNA samples from all five victims to the Australian Federal Police. The samples, which consisted of tissue and bone fragments, positively identified the two Australians.
A spokeswoman for the AFP declined to comment, as did a spokesman for the US embassy in Canberra.
However, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed the nationality of the two men killed. It emphasised the Australian government had no prior knowledge of the strike.
“There was no Australian involvement in, or prior awareness of, the operation,” a spokesman said.
He said DFAT could confirm the deaths late last year of “two Australians in Yemen, one of whom was a dual-national’’.
“We understand the men were killed during a counter-terrorism operation and do not intend to discuss its details,” he said. “Police and consular officials in Australia, and in the dual-national’s country of other nationality, were in contact with the next of kin when the deaths were confirmed.
“The AFP assisted in the identification of remains.’’
Yesterday, Harvard’s stepfather, Neil Dowrick, said the family was told by the AFP in December that he had been killed in a counter-terrorism raid. Mr Dowrick said he received a letter from the government indicating his stepson had been buried in Yemen. “From what we understand, Chris was buried on Friday,” he said.
Mr Dowrick said Harvard’s family had sought assistance from the Australian government to repatriate his grandson’s remains from Yemen, as they could not afford to do so.
It is not certain when Harvard went to Yemen, but it is believed he arrived in 2011.
“From what I was told ... he went over to teach English,” Mr Dowrick said. “Chris told us that’s what he was going over there for.”
Mr Dowrick said he did not know what had prompted his stepson’s conversion to Islam.
“Whatever it was it straightened his life,’’ Mr Dowrick said. “Once he worked out what he needed to do in life, he changed his whole life.”
The five militants killed were eulogised on Twitter, which named them under their aliases as Abu Habib al-Yemeni, Abu Salma al-Russi, Abu Suhaib al-Australi, Waddah al-Hadramawti and Hammam al-Misri.
Abu Suhaib al-Australia was the alias used by Muslim bin John, while Abu Salma al-Russi is believed to refer to Harvard, although it mistakenly identifies him as “the Russian”.
The Australian has been told Harvard was unknown to Australian counter-terrorism officials before his arrival in Yemen.
Once there, however, he quickly showed up on the radar of intelligence agencies. It is understood there were several false reports of him having been killed before November.
Australian authorities knew little about Harvard’s companion and fellow victim, “Muslim bin John’’, a name that a source said appeared to have been changed by deed poll, either in Australia or New Zealand, where he was a citizen.
It is understood the two men did not know each other before meeting in Yemen.
“They were foot soldiers,’’ the counter-terrorism official said, concerning the role played by the two in AQAP. “And there was a suggestion they were involved in kidnapping Westerners for ransom.’’
Armed predator drones have emerged as the weapon of choice for US authorities bent on eliminating Islamic militants. Yemen and the tribal areas of Pakistan are the main theatres for drone warfare.
Both the Pentagon and the CIA operate drones in Yemen, which before the eruption of the Syrian civil war three years ago was the destination-of-choice for foreign extremists, including several Australians.
The US reportedly conducted more than 20 airstrikes in Yemen throughout last year, the majority from drones.
A spokeswoman for the US embassy declined to comment on the incident: “The United States uses all lawful means at its disposal and works closely with foreign partners and allies to mitigate the threats we face.”
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
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