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Bikies linked with rocket 'plot'
By Natalie O'Brien
January 09, 2007 12:50am
Article from: The Australian
POLICE investigating an alleged terrorist plot using stolen
Australian army rocket launchers are close to arresting more
suspects, including a member of Australia's biggest outlaw
motorcycle gang.
The Rebels bikie from Sydney's southwest is one of several people
suspected of playing a part in a stolen weapons trail leading to
alleged Sydney arms dealer Taha Abdulrahman and his clients - one of
whom is a terror suspect.
It is believed that police are close to making a number of further
arrests in connection with the illegal sale of the anti-tank weapons
which police allege were intended to be used to attack targets
including the American Express headquarters in Sydney.
Mr Abdulrahman, 28, was arrested and charged on Friday with 17
offences, including unauthorised possession of a prohibited weapon
and unauthorised supply of a prohibited weapon. The charges relate
to five shoulder-mounted, anti-tank rocket launchers among seven
allegedly stolen from the army. Police have recovered one of the
launchers after cutting a deal with Sydney underworld figure Adnan
Darwiche, who is serving a double life sentence for murder.
It has been revealed that the Darwiche family, which was caught up
in a string of shootings in western Sydney stemming from a feud with
the rival Razzak family, had access to some of the rocket launchers.
Five of the stolen rocket launchers are believed to have been sold
to a Sydney man who is now facing terrorism charges.
Community sources have said that a member of one Middle Eastern
crime family has privately boasted of possession of at least one
rocket launcher.
Police said last week that Mr Abdulrahman had no immediate
connections to the Australian Defence Force and that no ADF members
were said to be under investigation at this point. But the focus of
the police investigation is now on how the weapons were moved from
the army to the Rebels, Mr Abdulrahman and then into the hands of a
potential terrorist cell.
The AFP yesterday declined to comment.
But NSW Police Assistant Commissioner for Counter Terrorism Nick
Kaldas said the arrest last week of Mr Abdulrahman was "one phase of
the operation".
"It is by no means the end of the investigation. A number of
significant lines of inquiry are being actively pursued and that
effort will be sustained until the matter is resolved," Mr Kaldas
said.
Mr Abdulrahman is accused of knowing several of the 23 terror
suspects arrested in Sydney and Melbourne in late 2005 during the
nation's biggest counter-terrorism sweep, known as Operation
Pendennis.
But how he may be allegedly linked to the Rebels bikie gang is still
being investigated.
In recent years there has been a rise in the number of Middle
Eastern Australians joining motorcycle gangs but experts say they
have been mainly swelling the ranks of rival clubs, such as the
Nomads.
Former federal agent turned academic Michael Kennedy said the links
between the Rebels and the Middle Eastern community in southwest
Sydney were likely to be more entrepreneurial.
Dr Kennedy said the Rebels members would know "someone" who would
know someone else who could move the weapons on the black market.
Last week police said they would allege one of the 66mm portable
rocket launchers was destined to be fired at a Sydney target.
Australia's only nuclear reactor and the Australian headquarters of
American Express in Sydney were touted as among the likely targets
for Mr Adbulrahman's alleged terrorist clients.
The country's intelligence and spy agencies are conducting a
nationwide audit of the defence forces' weapons and munitions
stocks.