Australian caught with al Qaeda

12 Dec, 2001 12:07 PM3 mins to read

By GREG ANSLEY

CANBERRA - An Australian trained by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network and captured with Taleban forces in Afghanistan faces an uncertain future at the hands of Northern Alliance troops.

Australian officials have not been given access to the 26-year-old Adelaide man - the second Westerner caught fighting against the anti-terror coalition - and are holding discussions with US and other authorities on the issue.

The Government has refused to comment on the possibility of any charges that could be brought against the man under Australian law.

The most serious potential charge is treason.

The man, described as European, is understood to have been better trained and more senior than John Walker, the American Taleban fighter captured by Northern Alliance forces. He previously fought alongside Muslim insurgents in the Balkans.

Other details are being kept secret for security reasons, Attorney-General Daryl Williams said yesterday.

But he did say that the man had no known criminal record and had not come to the attention of security officials before.

News of the man's capture was passed to Australia by the US in the same week that Canberra confirmed the deployment of 150 Australian SAS troops with American Marines in Afghanistan.

Australia also has committed warships, fighter jets and maritime patrol aircraft to the US-led coalition.

Islamic organisations in Australia yesterday expressed concern that the news of the fighter's capture could spark another wave of violence and intimidation against Muslims, despite the refusal of the Government to release any details of the man's ethnic or religious background. Mosques were firebombed and Muslims were assaulted in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington.

A team from the Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation and the federal police interviewed the man's family on Tuesday night, and officials in Canberra are seeking further advice on any action that could be taken against him.

"We're not proposing to reveal his name or the names of members of his family," Mr Williams said.

"We don't want to put the family under unnecessary pressure and there are still a lot of things to be examined."

Mr Williams said it was understood the man had left Australia to fight with the Kosovo Liberation Army in mid-1990, before moving to Pakistan for further training in November of that year.

He joined the terrorist al Qaeda network and underwent further training in Afghanistan last year.

The circumstances of his capture last weekend were not known.

Mr Williams said the Australian authorities would discuss with officials from other countries, including the US, how the matter would be dealt with.

At this stage there were other issues to be explored, including the possibility that the man had committed offences under Australian law.

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