Chechen Bomb Makers in Australia

Chechen Terrorists could be at work in Australia, helping Islamic bomb makers perfect their skills.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is investigating whether explosive experts from Chechnya have crept into the nation to help locally based Terrorist cells.

ASIO is studying ties between the Chechens and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), a shadowy Pakistani Islamic group.

A Terror cell linked to LET in Sydney was planning an attack but it was foiled last year.

Russia's Federal Security Bureau -- the successor to the KGB -- and France's intelligence service, the DST, are helping ASIO.

ASIO received the warnings earlier this year. Chechens specialise in suicide attacks in urban areas and ASIO is taking the warnings seriously.

Senior intelligence sources said that the arrest of Terror-suspect Willie Brigitte in France sparked the alarm.

Brigitte's connections to Abou Salah, a Chechen bomb expert said to have trained him in Pakistan, led ASIO to begin a hunt for him.

The sources also warned that Brigitte's arrest was just the beginning of closing down Sydney's LET cell.

"Brigitte's arrest had only disrupted but not destroyed the Terrorist cell in Sydney," one source said.

The recent arrests of Sydney medical student Izhar Ul-Haque, 21, and architect Faheem Khalid Lodhi are being investigated in light of the Brigitte investigation.

Foreign intelligence agencies have informed ASIO that Chechen rebels pose an extra risk to security because many are European recruits -- they can easily pass themselves off as Westerners.

It is understood Attorney General Phillip Ruddock is examining a list of Terrorist organisations banned by the UN for further action. This week, he outlawed Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Lashkar-e-Toiba is outlawed in Australia but there are no Chechen groups on the list.

In February, the US outlawed three Chechen-linked Terror Groups, including the International Islamic Brigade and the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment.

Chechnyan fighters have been in a bloody struggle with Russia for independence. They have taken their campaign to Russia's urban cities, including Moscow.

Because of their combat experience and suicide attacks, the Chechens are a feared group in Russia and worldwide.


See Also:
The Rising Tide of Islamic Fundamentalism (I)
The Rising Tide of Islamic Fundamentalism (II)
The True Meaning of Jihad
The Holy Qur'an Says...
The Qur'an's 150 Verses Extolling Violent Jihad
The Myth That Must Die!
Why We Fight!
Calling Evil By Its Name
The 'Fifth Column' Exposed!
How to Survive a Terror Attack