Lucas Heights Possible Terrorist Target

Nuclear link alleged in Australia arrests

Lucas Heights Nuclear Reactor

SYDNEY, Australia - Police have reason to believe a nuclear reactor located at Lucas Heights in southern Sydney may have been a possible target for an Islamic terror cell there, according to details made available on Monday from an Australian investigation report.

Police had previously stopped and questioned three recently arrested Sydney terror suspects near Australia’s only nuclear reactor in December last year, according to an outline of police allegations made public on Monday.

The document also outlined what it said were plans by the men to stockpile chemicals for making explosives and that they "obtained extremist advice and guidance" from a firebrand cleric arrested along with them.

The three men stopped near the nuclear reactor were among 18 terror suspects arrested in Sydney and Melbourne last week and accused of plotting to carry out a "catastrophic" attack in Australia. The police document recounted the December incident under the heading, "Possible targets for terrorist attack."

The document, provided during a court hearing last week and released publicly on Monday, alleges that three of the eight Sydney suspects were stopped in their car near the nuclear facility in southern Sydney in December 2004.

The men also had an off-road motorbike and claimed they were there to ride, the document said, noting that all three gave different versions of the day’s events to police.

Police inquiries revealed the lock of a gate to a reservoir of the reactor had recently been cut, the document said.

The three - Mazen Touma, Mohammed Elomar and Abdul Rakib Hasan - along with five other Sydney men, have been charged with conspiring to manufacture explosives in preparation for a terrorist act.

Their lawyer has said prosecutors have produced no evidence of an imminent terror attack in the country.

The police fact sheet, which outlines the prosecution’s case against the eight Sydney suspects, said members of the group sought materials to produce explosives, ordering dozens of gallons of chemicals.

During a search of Elomar’s home on June 27, police said they found a computer memory stick which contained instructions in Arabic for making TATP, or triacetone triperoxide, a highly unstable explosive made from commercially available chemicals.

Australian police have said TATP is similar to the bombs used by suicide bombers the July 7 attacks on London’s public transport system, but British authorities have refused to confirm those reports.

The statement also said some of the men attended a terrorist training camp at a rural property in a remote area of New South Wales state, and "obtained extremist advice and guidance" from the firebrand cleric, Abu Bakr, who made headlines last year by calling Osama bin Laden a "great man."

Abu Bakr, whose real name is Abdul Nacer Benbrika, was among the men arrested during last week’s raids.

Another of the men arrested, Abdulla Merhi, wanted to carry out attacks to avenge the war in Iraq, police said in a Melbourne court. Australian Prime Minister John Howard was a strong supporter of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and has sent hundreds of troops to the country.

Latest updates on Terrorists arrested in Sydney…

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  • New arrest in Sydney terror plot - SpecialsWarOnTerror - www ... - After a six-month investigation, police have arrested a Sydney architect for allegedly planning a major terrorist attack in Australia. - The Age Online
  • BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Sydney terror accused deny guilt - Nine men arrested in Australia's largest counter-terrorism operation have pleaded not guilty to charges of plotting an attack in Sydney. The men, who are all Muslims ...
  • USATODAY.com - Police in Australia arrest 17 terror suspects - More than 500 police backed up by helicopters were involved in raids across Sydney and Melbourne, arresting eight men in Sydney and nine in Melbourne and ...
  • BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Australia terror suspects charged - Police in Australia claim to have foiled a major terrorist attack after they arrested 16 people on Tuesday in raids across Sydney and Melbourne. Nine people appeared ...
  • Terrorist cell disrupted - National - smh.com.au - The two older men face additional charges of supporting a terrorist organisation. The charges relate to the same set of circumstances that led to 19 arrests in Sydney and ...
  • Police in Australia arrest 17 terror suspects, say they foiled attack - Police in Australia arrest 17 terror suspects, say they foiled attack 21:03:54 EST Nov 7, 2005 MIKE CORDER SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Police in Australia ...
  • Sydney architect accused of terrorist acts ... - ... was today refused bail in a Sydney court after being charged with terrorist offences. - Sydney ... Mr Ruddock said further arrests were likely. Labor's homeland security ...
  • Arrests in Yemen linked to alleged Sydney terror cell - World ... - INVESTIGATORS have linked two Australian men arrested in Yemen on terrorism charges to a member of the alleged Sydney terrorist cell who was arrested and charged 12 ...
  • PM - Terror cells in Sydney and Melbourne connected 20/09/2011 - It can now be revealed that Australias largest terrorist network involved a group of men from Sydney as ... an interview with the ABC three months before he was arrested ...
  • Australia Arrests 17 People in Anti-Terrorism Raids (Update6 ... - Australian police arrested 17 people in Sydney and Melbourne for allegedly stockpiling explosive chemicals for use in a terrorist attack.

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