Australia threatened by Kashmiri terrorists(Lashkar-e-Taiba)

Kashmiri threat 'increased' to Australia

By Simon Kearney

September 19, 2005

THE threat posed to Australia by Kashmiri terrorists has grown, according to secret briefings submitted to a parliamentary committee overseeing the nation's spying agencies.

The committee has been told of new allegations about links between Kashmiri terrorists and Australian residents and citizens. The links emerged in a report on Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) delivered to the parliamentary joint committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD.

The report said there were additional allegations beyond those already in the public domain, but did not elaborate.

The threat posed by LeT emerged when it was revealed the group trained Australian David Hicks and French terror suspect Willie Brigitte. The Australian reported in November 2003 that at least two Sydney residents had been questioned by ASIO about LeT, after Brigitte's deportation.

The report said Australian authorities believed Brigitte was planning to attack Sydney's Lucas Heights nuclear reactor, and had been assigned the task because of his bomb-making expertise.

LeT, which is fighting for the creation of an Islamic state, has mainly been concerned with terrorism in Indian-controlled Kashmir and India. In 2001, it attacked the Indian parliament. But its tactics appear to have changed. "Recent intelligence suggests a trend towards LeT operational activity outside its main theatre of operations," the report said.

Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock's statement of reasons for renewing the ban on LeT earlier this year pointed to suggestions about the group;s expanding terrorist operation.

"Senior members of LeT have advocated the group develop an operational interest beyond its principal theatre of operation in Kashmir and India," Mr Ruddock said. "In April 2004, an LeT operational commander was captured by British forces in Iraq."

The committee said LeT had links with other terrorist groups, including in The Philippines. According to Mr Ruddock, LeT "co-operates with al-Qa'ida and other Islamic terrorist groups, both in training and in undertaking operations".

LeT receives most of its funding from expatriate Pakistani communities around the world, particularly in the Persian Gulf and Britain.