Paul Maley, in The Australian, 12 February 2014, with the title “Suspects’ Chilling Video Message“
TWO alleged terrorists spoke of “stabbing the kidneys and striking the necks” of their victims in a chilling video message recorded just hours before their planned Sydney attack. Omar al-Kutobi, 24, and Mo-hammad Kiad, 25, were arrested on Tuesday afternoon in western Sydney allegedly as they were in the final planning stages of an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack. In a video message seized by police, the pair proclaimed themselves “soldiers of the caliphate’’ who would carry out the Islamic State’s first successful operation in Australia.
The video, recorded in Arabic, was described by Tony Abbott in parliament yesterday. “Kneeling before the death cult flag with a knife in his hand and a machete before him, one of those arrested said this: ‘I swear to almighty Allah, we will carry out the first operation for the soldiers of the caliphate in Australia’,” the Prime Minister said. “He went on to say, Madam Speaker: ‘I swear to almighty Allah, blond people, there is no room for blame between you and us. We only are you, stabbing the kidneys and striking the necks’.”
Neither Mr al-Kutobi, originally from Iraq, nor Mr Kiad, from Kuwait, appeared during a brief hearing at Sydney’s Central Local Court yesterday, where their lawyer, Deone Provera, said they would apply for bail at their next hearing.
The prosecution lawyer, who subsequently declined to give her name, told the court the police statement of facts detailing the evidence against the pair was four pages long, but there was also photographic and video evidence. This video, which she described as “short’’, was likely to be played for the court at the pair’s next hearing, set down for next month, the prosecutor said.
Omar al-Ktutobi — Pic from www.smh.com.au
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said yesterday that he had ordered an urgent review into the men’s cases following reports Mr al-Kutobi had arrived on a fake passport before claiming asylum.
Meanwhile, in the NSW Supreme Court, a Sydney man who was a target of anti-terror raids in September last year was denied bail after being charged with breaching an anti-terror control order. The 21-year-old Marsfield man, who cannot be named, became the first person charged with breaching control orders relating to terrorism offences under new federal laws.
Additional reporting: Leo Shanahan, Jared Owens
ALSO SEE
** Alan Dupont: “ISIS as Fascist and Totalitarian,” 29 September 2014, http://thuppahis.com/2014/09/29/isis-as-fascist-and-totalitarian/
** Michael Roberts: “Where In-fighting generates Fervour & Power: ISIS Today, LTTE yesterday,” 21 July 2014, http://thuppahis.com/2014/07/21/where-in-fighting-generates-fervour-power-isis-today-ltte-yesterda/
** David Kilcullen: “From Expeditionary Terror to Leaderless Remote Control Terror,:” 21 January 2015 https://thuppahis.com/2015/01/21/from-expeditionary-terror-to-leaderless-remote-control-terror/
** Michael Roberts: “Lone Cell Assaults: From Boston to Westmead-in-Sydney to the Unabomber. Inspirations and Enabling Conditions in Comparative Perspective,” 19 April 2013, http://thuppahis.com/2013/04/19/lone-cell-assaults-from-boston-to-westmead-in-sydney-to-the-unabomber-inspirations-and-enabling-conditions-in-comparative-perspective/
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