In the past few decades, the word ‘jihad’ has taken on a new and often sinister meaning.
In essence, the original meaning is still valid—that jihad is a personal struggle to improve one’s self by pleasing God. To a dangerous minority of Muslim extremists, the true meaning of jihad has been drastically altered.
Fanatical zealots, who embrace Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda teachings, see jihad as a bloody revolution that will ultimately lead to the global domination of true followers of Islam. They also believe that it is the duty of every Muslim to rid the world of ‘Satan followers’. They take special aim at the USA and its allies in their campaign of hatred.
Often anonymous jihad proponrnts have now infiltrated most parts of the western world, and since 1979, there have been over 30 attacks on innocent citizens in the USA, Africa, South America, Britain and Indonesia.
There is a complete disregard for human life among many terrorist groups—this means we are all potential targets.
Acts of terrorism are an attempt to intimidate governments, or society in general, in order to impose different political, religious or ideological regimes. Since the early seventeenth century, terrorist attacks havecome in the form of assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, bombings and suicide bombings. Terrorists have also used chemical and nuclear radiological and biological weapons to promote fear and chaos.
There is a complete disregard for human life among many terrorist groups—this means we are all potential targets.
In 1605 a terrorist group plotted to blow up the British House of Lords and assassinate King James VI, as well as sitting members of parliament. The terrorist group believed they were being persecuted by people in power who were hostile to Catholic religious beliefs.
The gang of 13 men were lead by Robert Catesby, and former army officer Guy Fawkes became a very influential conspirator. Their early attempts to dig a tunnel under the House of Lords from a nearby rented building, proved to be almost impossible. The gang were relieved when a cellar directly under the House of Lords became a rental property.
The conspirators hid 36 barrels of gunpowder under piles of wood and other fuels in the cellar, but the plot was foiled at the last minute by an anonymous tip off in the form of a letter. When Parliament resumed on 5 November, Guy Fawkes and John Johnson were arrested shortly before the gunpowder was ignited. The use of torture by authorities to produce confessions was a success, and the gang were soon rounded up.
The conspirators hid 36 barrels of gunpowder under piles of wood and other fuels in the cellar...
The conspirators were found guilty, and a particularly gruesome death penalty was imposed. Most were hanged and quartered, and, shortly before they actually died, their testicles were removed and burnt before their eyes. Fawkes managed to avoid this final indignity by leaping from the gallows; he died from a broken neck. Since then people around the world have lit bonfires on the night of 5 November, and burnt effigies of Guy Fawkes on the pyres.
Most were hanged and quartered, and, shortly before they actually died, their testicles were removed and burnt before their eyes.
Guy Fawkes.
The world reeled in shock when a terrorist gang of 19 Arab extremists caused the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in suicide attacks on the USA on 11 September 2001.
The terrorists hijacked four separate commercial aeroplanes in mid-air and directed them toward specific targets. Two of the planes were deliberately crashed into the Twin Towers of New York’s World Trade Centre, another smashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC, and the fourth plane plummeted to earth after passengers thwarted the attempted hijacking.
Two of the planes were deliberately crashed into the Twin Towers of New York’s World Trade Centre...
The toll from 9/11 was horrendous. It is estimated that 2,973 people (including the 19 terrorists), perished in the plane crashes. Two hundred and forty six passengers died, including: 2, 602 in the Twin Towers attacks; 125 at the Pentagon and 24 individuals who are missing and presumed dead. Scores of others were injured. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attackes, and in the past seven years, significant arrests have been made. The main target of western agents was the group’s leader, Osama bin Laden.
After being placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, bin Laden remained in hiding during three U.S. presidential administrations. On May 2, 2011, bin Laden was shot and killed inside a private residential compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, by U.S. Navy SEALs and CIA operatives in a covert operation ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama. Shortly after his death, bin Laden’s body was buried at sea. Al-Qaeda acknowledged his death on May 6, 2011, vowing to retaliate.
The Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre, New York.
Osama bin Laden was shot and killed inside a private residential compound
Reactions in the Pacific and South-East Asia were varied in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Strong actions against locally-based terrorist organisations were taken by the governments of Malaysia and Singapore, but the Philippines became somewhat of a haven for dangerous groups. Following the carnage of 9/11 the Australian government introduced tough new anti-terrorism laws, but, generally speaking, a feeling of complacency seemed to prevail. Indonesia originally adopted a rather indifferent approach to dissident organisations, such as the emerging Jemaah Islamiah.
This militant Islamic group has been active since the late 1970s in South-East Asia. Its influence is more regional than global; the stated aim of Jemaah Islamiah is to establish an Islamic state across the South-East Asian region. Membership numbers are not readily available, but it is likely that Jemaah Islamiah had several hundred to a few thousand members at the height of its popularity.
Plans for the Bali bomb attacks were probably hatched at a meeting in Thailand...
Plans for the Bali bomb attacks were probably hatched at a meeting in Thailand some months before the target date, when Jemaah Islamiah members were advised to adopt a new strategy for the attacks. The practice of targeting foreign embassies posed significant problems. It was recommended that ‘softer’ attack sites, such as popular western tourist spots and bars, become the new focus for attacks.
Bali was chosen because many Americans vacationed on there. It was originally intended to kill and maim as many US citizens as possible, but in actuality Australia and Indonesia suffered the most casualties out of 24 nations who lost citizens in the two separate attacks.
On the night of 12 October 2002, noting on Kuta Beach appeared to be out of the ordinary. But, at 11.05pm a suicide bomber inside Paddy’s Bar detonated a bomb in his bacpack, blowing himself to bits and injuring several people. Bar room patrons panicked and fled into the street, where an even more deadly attack awaited them.
Outside the nearby Sari Club, a parked car exploded. The blast was so powerful it damaged a hotel a kilometre away. A huge crater opened up in front of the club, and exploding gas cylinders started a fire that blazed out of control. Some patrons were trapped in the club when the roof collapsed.
Abu Bakar Bashir
In the mayhem, scores of tourists from Germany, Canada, Britain, Sweden, the USA, Australia, Indonesia and other countries, were killed and badly injured. Body parts were scattered over the area, and bewildered, blood-saturated survivors had burnt skin hanging from their bodies.
It later emerged that the death toll from the Bali Bombings was 202; eighty eight of the people killed were Australian citizens. The bodies of three victims were never identified. The local hospital was too small to cope with the carnage, so many of the injured were flown to Australian hospitals in Darwin and Perth.
It later emerged that the death toll from the Bali Bombings was 202; eighty eight of the people killed were Australian citizens.
Within days Indonesian and Australian investigators found that the attack had been organised locally—as the main bomb ingredient was ammonium nitrate, a fertiliser popular in Indonesia. This discovery lead detectives to suspect the involvement of Abu Bakar Bashir.
The radical priest had a reputation for criticising western culture and values, and was widely recognised as Jamaah Islamiah’s spiritual adviser. He vehemently denied any involvement, and claimed that the bomb was too sophisticated to have been made by Indonesians. The real culprits, he maintained, were Americans who were attempting to divert the blame onto Indonesian Muslims.
A first major breakthrough occurred in November, when 41-year-old East Javanese mechanic Amrozi bin Nurhasyim was identified as the person who purchased both the vehicle used for the main explosion, and the chemicals used in the bomb. Amrozi admitted his guilt, and his arrest was followed by the apprehension of Imam Samudra on 21 November, just before he boarded a ferry to Sumatra. Amrozi’s brother Muklas was taken into custody in early December, and it soon became clear that he was both the mastermind of the bomb attacks and Jemaah Islamiah’s Chief of Operations. The final member of the gang to be arrested was Ali Imron. He expressed sympathy for the families of the victims, but justified citizens of the USA and its allies being targeted for the jihad attack.
The Australian public and government authorities have experienced ongoing frustration over Indonesian court decisions affecting Abu Bakar Bashir. A charge of treason was aborted when it was judged that the state had not proven its case. Lack of evidence then saw Bashir being not found guilty of any involvement in Jakarta’s Marriott Hotel bombing on 15 October 2004. He was finally charged with conspiracy over the Bali bombings. Bashir received a sentence of 30 months for this, but families of the Bali nightclub victims were disappointed when he was released early from custody.
Lack of evidence then saw Bashir freed on his involvement in Jakarta’s Marriott Hotel bombing
On 8 August 2003, Amrozi, Samudra and Muklah were sentenced to death for orchestrating the Bali bombings. Amrozi was dubbed ‘the smiling assassin’ because of his provocatively cheerful courtroom behaviour. He shouted Allaha akbah (God is great) on arriving for the hearing. He smiled and triumphantly, punching the air with clenched fists, after he was sentenced to be executed by a firing squad.
The three have since followed exhaustive, but unsuccessful appeal processes.
Nearly two years later, westerners were targeted again when a bomb explosion in Jakarta’s Marriott Hotel killed 12 people and injured 150. Within a month the Australian Embassy came under fire after nine local people were killed in a bomb explosion outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta.
On 1 October 2005, 20 people died and 129 others were injured when three suicide bombers detinated explosives at both Jimbaran and Kuta on the island of Bali. Four Australian holiday-makers were among the fatalities when the bombs exploded in the terrorists’ backpacks in restaurant areas. For this new attack, more basic resources were used in the bombs, with objects such as ball bearings causing serious wounds to victims.
Four Australians were among the fatalities when the bombs exploded in the terrorists’ backpacks in restaurant areas.
At the time authorities had been tracking Jamaah Islamiah leaders for many months. A major breakthrough came with the death of ‘the demolition man’, Azahari Husin, during a police raid in 2005. Noordin Mohammed Top, another Indonesian bomb maker and terrorist leader, remains at large.
The Australian Federal Police has become very active in its pursuit of Australian terrorist suspects since the Bali attacks. One of their recent targets is 35-year-old Melbourne man Jack Thomas.
For the past five years, Thomas has been charged, cleared and charged again on two serious charges under new anti-terrorism laws. His rollercoaster ride with Australian authorities began in January 2003, when he was arrested in Pakistan. After spending 14 months in custody, a Supreme Court jury found him guilty of receiving funds from a terrorist organisation and possessing a false passport, but not guilty of providing resources to a terrorist organisation.
...found him guilty of receiving funds from a terrorist organisation and possessing a false passport...
A fortnight later, on 27 February 2006, Thomas was interviewed on the ABC’s ‘Four Corners’ program. In the television interview, Thomas talked about his visits to Pakistan and Afghanistan, when Al Qaeda allegedly provided him with money and began grooming him to commit acts of terrorism. Thomas maintains that he acquiesce to their demands claiming that he ‘doesn’t believe in killing innocent people…’
On 18 April 2006, a Court of Appeal decision quashed’ conviction. A ruling was made that that the AFP interview, in which admissions were made by Thomas, should have been ruled inadmissible by the judge.
Thomas will now have to defend the original terrorism charges in a future court hearing.
In a December ruling, the Court of Appeal approved an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for a retrial based on the ‘Four Corners’ interview, arguing that this material provided new evidence.
The DPP’s request was queried, but on 16 June 2008, the Court of Appeal rejected the challenge to a retrial. As a result of this Thomas will now have to defend the original terrorism charges in a future court hearing.
With terrorism rife and punishments etreme, two Australian citizens have served overseas custodial sentences without actually being charged with committing any crime.
Mamdouh Habib, a married man with four children, was arrested in Pakistan in 1982. During his stay of some months on the sub-continent, Habib claims that he was assessing Islamic schools to enroll his children in. He was detained, first in Egypt and later at the notorious USA army base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, but never charged.
Habib claims that he was tortured during the time he was held without charge. He was finally released by American authorities on 28 January 2005, and has since returned to Australia.
Habib claims that he was tortured during the time he was held without charge.
The David Hicks’ case was more prolonged, and created a lot of controversy in Australia. Hicks trained in Afghanistan, where he hoped to join the Taliban and fight against US and the Northern Alliance forces. After being arrested, Hicks was incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay for five years without being officially charged with any crime by USA military authorities. Some of his time was spent in solitary confinement, and his family held grave fears for his mental and physical health.
He pleaded guilty to the charge of providing material support for terrorism...
In Australia his father, Terry Hicks, and a growing group of supporters, advocated strongly for him to be released. After five years in Guantanamo Bay David Hicks was finally charged and faced a USA military court. He pleaded guilty to the charge of providing material support for terrorism, and was allowed to serve out the remainder of his custodial sentence in Australia.
In December 2007, David Hicks was released from Yatala Prison in his home state of South Australia after serving a nine month jail term on Australian soil. In accordance with agreed custodial arrangements, David Hicks will not provide information to the media until at least December 2008.
Between November 2005 and March 2006, 12 Melbourne men were arrested in a series of raids and charged with various terrorist offences. One charge (the accusation that they are members of a terrorist group), carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in custody. All of the accused are members of an extreme Muslim group headed by Abdul Nacer Benbrika, an Algerian born cleric who has resided in Australia for the past 16 years.
...12 Melbourne men were arrested in a series of raids, and charged with various terrorist offences.
The Supreme Court hearing began on 12 February 2008 in the Victorian County Court building, a facility that allows for the heightened security required when trying terrorism cases. The accused are being held in maximum security units at Barwon Prison, and, since the hearing began, the presiding judge has altered some of the harsh conditions that were being imposed on the group.
The 12 accused are: Abdul Nacer Benbrika, 47, of Dallas; Fadal Sayadi, 27, of Coburg; Ahmed Raad, 24, of Fawkner; Aimen Joud, 22, of Hoppers Crossing; Abdullar Merhi, 22, of Fawkner; Amer Haddara, 27, of Yarraville; Shane Kent, 30, of Meadow Heights; Majed Raad, 23, of Coburg; Hany Taha, 32, of Hadfield; Shoue Hammoud, 27, of Hadfield; Bassam Raad, 25, of Brunswick and Ezzit Raad, 25, of Preston. All have pleaded not guilty to the various charges.
The court has already been told that the group aimed to carry out a violent jihad in which the killing of women and children would be permissible: ‘If you kill, we kill … a thousand, because if you get large numbers the government will listen,’ Benbrika allegedly emphasised to group members.
Evidence submitted by crown prosecutor Richard Maidment SC suggests that gang members attended terrorist training camps in rural Victoria and NSW, and that Shane Kent travelled to Afghanistan where he received weapons and explosives training at a camp for foreigners’ jihads. ‘He’s good,’ was Benbrika’s reported assessment of Kent ‘and he doesn’t talk too much.’
...gang members attended terrorist training camps in rural Victoria and NSW...
It has also been alleged that the group intended to construct a backyard explosives laboratory, and that an army of weapons and bomb making manuals were confiscated by arresting officers. The group had chilling ambitions. The then Prime Minister John Howard was allegedly targeted ‘for taking the lives of Muslim brothers’ (presumably in the Iraq war).
It is also believed that, at one stage, the group intended to detonate a bomb at the 2005 AFL Grand Final, when nearly 100,000 MCG spectators would be present. Abdullah Merhi was eager to participate in a violent plan such as this. ‘I could wait months, but not years,’ was his alleged response. The plan was reportedly later discarded, because MCG security restrictions proved too difficult to circumvent.
It is also believed that the group intended to detonate a bomb at the 2005 AFL Grand Final...
Defence lawyers claim that taped telephone conversations between group members are examples of mere macho posturing, and that rural training camps were no more than men getting together to enjoy hunting and fishing.
Evidence was still being submitted when this book went to print.
Over 3,000 men, women and children perished in the American 9/11 attacks of 2001. Nearly a year later, 202 innocent people, including 88 Australians, died in the Bali bombings.
When we are faced with atrocities of this magnitude it is difficult for us to fully comprehend them.
It is only when we examine individual case studies that we recognise these statistics as personal tragedies.
Soon after the first Bali bombings, stories of hope, relief and sadness were told by many who were personally affected by the tragedy.
Melbourne resident Mimma Pezzimenti was one of the Bali survivors who emerged relatively unscathed. She had just retired for the night at a nearby hotel, when the nightmare began.
We just heard the massive explosion… and the roof just caved in and all the windows from our hotel were broken, and by that stage we had no power and we were just told to hurry up and get out because the place was not safe.
Melbourne footballer Steven Febey recalled the horrific injuries he witnessed, while he searched for his friend Mark Andrews near the bomb site.
…wherever you went… you just seemed to trip over debris and bodies and the closer you got to the Sari Club… the force of the fire. You just couldn’t get anywhere… the force of the heat just knocked you backwards.
Fortunately Febey found Andrews, and the relieved friends returned safely to Australia.
Injury reports on survivors soon began to filter through to anxious relatives. The sister of one of the victims voiced her family’s concerns as they waited for updates on their loved ones’s condition:
She has just come out of the operation, and she’s in intensive care… She had quite a bit of shrapnel in her stomach, which is quite bad. And she may have lost a leg.
Another couple were told that their daughter would not survive the emergency flight home on an RAAF Hercules, but fortunately she did. The young woman was operated on that afternoon and continued to fight for her life.
The family recall hoping that, when the phone rang again, it would finally provide good news.
There were those who faced the awful reality that their friends and loved ones would never return.
Seven members of Perth’s Kingsley Football Club were missing and feared dead, and Sturt footballer Josh Deegan’s body was found at the bomb site.
For some time, many endured the anguish of not knowing the fate of those close to them.
‘We’re just hoping to goodness that she’s one of the injured that’s been sent to Darwin or Perth…’, said one distraught mother. ‘We just want her to come home don’t we?’
There were the reactions of those waiting at airports for loved ones who did survive the terrorist attack.
Les Radford was one of the lucky fathers, and he was anxious to see his son Josh emerge from customs.
‘I just want to see him and hold him just to make sure, you know what I mean?’ he said to a friend.
These heartfelt words followed when his son and he were reunited: ‘Oh matey, it’s good to see you, so good to see you.’
One of the many heroes of the horrific Bali nightclub bombing is Adelaide magistrate Brian Deegan.
Brian lost his 22-year-old son Josh in the terrorist attack. Like other bereaved parents, spouses, lovers and friends of the Bali victims, Brian now has to cope with life-long grief
Despite this burden, there is no apparent bitterness in Brian’s attitude towards the convicted terrorists who killed his innocent son. In fact, this rational and compassionate man opposes the death sentences that have been passed on to his son’s killers. ‘This will only create a lot more mischief and a lot more misery,’ was his final comment after the sentences were announced.
The aftermath of the Bali nightclub bombings.
