[h1]Australians 'poison', terror trial told [/h1]
[h2][/h2]
AAP
Last updated 23:42 14/09/2010
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Two men alleged to be part of a plot to blow up a Sydney army base described Australians as "enemies" and "poison", a court was told.
Wissam Mahmoud Fattal and Nayef El Sayed were recorded saying that Australians were the enemy because they oppressed Muslims, the Victorian Supreme Court was told on Tuesday.
In another conversation, the prosecution says, Saney Edow Aweys is citing the oppression of Muslims as his reason to seek a religious decree from a Somali sheik to commit the attack.
The prosecution says the men planned to blow up the Australian Army Barracks at Holsworthy, in Sydney's southwest.
Fattal, 34, of Melbourne, Aweys, 27, of Carlton North, El Sayed, 26, of Glenroy, Yacqub Khayre, 23 of Meadow Heights, and Abdirahman Mohamud Ahmed, 26, of Preston, have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to prepare for or plan a terrorist act between February 1 and August 4 2009.
The men believed Islam was under attack from the West, including Australia, the court has heard.
Transcripts of secretly recorded conversations involving the men were read to the court on Tuesday during prosecutor Nick Robinson SC's opening address to the jury.
In one conversation, Fattal and Sayed describe Australians as the enemy.
"They are spiteful," Fattal said.
"I swear to Allah the great, they are enemies.
"All of them. All of them. They are targeting us."
Sayed agreed: "I swear to Allah, poison".
Mr Robinson said the conversation showed the men's dislike for Australians.
"What the Crown says is both Fattal and El Sayed there are expressing the view of antipathy towards Australians and that Australians are enemies because they are oppressing and anti-Muslim," he said.
In another conversation, Aweys is heard talking to a Somali Muslim cleric about the invasion of Muslim lands.
Mr Robinson said Aweys was seeking permission from the cleric to commit the attack.
"The Crown says that that is Aweys asking, on behalf of the conspirators, for an opportunity to ask for the fatwa in respect of the conspiracy," he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, jurors were shown CCTV footage which is said to show Fattal walking around the perimeter of the army base.
In the footage, Fattal is wearing a bumbag and carrying a plastic bag.
He is seen arriving at Holsworthy Railway Station before walking down a path which, the prosecution says, leads to a road near the army base.
Later, black-and-white footage was shown to the jury, showing a person walking near the fence of the army base.
The man, who the prosecution alleges is Fattal, can then be seen walking back to the station and, at one point, he stops and looks back toward the army base.
The trial before Justice Betty King continues on Wednesday and is expected to last several months.
[h2][/h2]
AAP
Last updated 23:42 14/09/2010
javascript:alterStoryTextSize();
Two men alleged to be part of a plot to blow up a Sydney army base described Australians as "enemies" and "poison", a court was told.
Wissam Mahmoud Fattal and Nayef El Sayed were recorded saying that Australians were the enemy because they oppressed Muslims, the Victorian Supreme Court was told on Tuesday.
In another conversation, the prosecution says, Saney Edow Aweys is citing the oppression of Muslims as his reason to seek a religious decree from a Somali sheik to commit the attack.
The prosecution says the men planned to blow up the Australian Army Barracks at Holsworthy, in Sydney's southwest.
Fattal, 34, of Melbourne, Aweys, 27, of Carlton North, El Sayed, 26, of Glenroy, Yacqub Khayre, 23 of Meadow Heights, and Abdirahman Mohamud Ahmed, 26, of Preston, have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to prepare for or plan a terrorist act between February 1 and August 4 2009.
The men believed Islam was under attack from the West, including Australia, the court has heard.
Transcripts of secretly recorded conversations involving the men were read to the court on Tuesday during prosecutor Nick Robinson SC's opening address to the jury.
In one conversation, Fattal and Sayed describe Australians as the enemy.
"They are spiteful," Fattal said.
"I swear to Allah the great, they are enemies.
"All of them. All of them. They are targeting us."
Sayed agreed: "I swear to Allah, poison".
Mr Robinson said the conversation showed the men's dislike for Australians.
"What the Crown says is both Fattal and El Sayed there are expressing the view of antipathy towards Australians and that Australians are enemies because they are oppressing and anti-Muslim," he said.
In another conversation, Aweys is heard talking to a Somali Muslim cleric about the invasion of Muslim lands.
Mr Robinson said Aweys was seeking permission from the cleric to commit the attack.
"The Crown says that that is Aweys asking, on behalf of the conspirators, for an opportunity to ask for the fatwa in respect of the conspiracy," he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, jurors were shown CCTV footage which is said to show Fattal walking around the perimeter of the army base.
In the footage, Fattal is wearing a bumbag and carrying a plastic bag.
He is seen arriving at Holsworthy Railway Station before walking down a path which, the prosecution says, leads to a road near the army base.
Later, black-and-white footage was shown to the jury, showing a person walking near the fence of the army base.
The man, who the prosecution alleges is Fattal, can then be seen walking back to the station and, at one point, he stops and looks back toward the army base.
The trial before Justice Betty King continues on Wednesday and is expected to last several months.