Brisbane man arrested on terrorism charges has Isis links, police say
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Version 0 of 1. A man arrested during a series of raids in the Brisbane region has links to Islamic State, police allege. Police allegedly found a sawn-off .22 calibre semi-automatic firearm and small arms ammunition at the Logan residence of 21-year-old unemployed man Agim Kruezi on Wednesday. Kruezi is facing terrorism-related charges including allegations he recruited another person to become a member of Islamic State. Police allege the recruiting offence occurred between 18 July and 5 September this year. He is also charged with obtaining funds in preparation for incursions into a foreign state between 24 February and 9 March this year. Brisbane man Omar Succarieh, 31, has been charged with helping Kruezi obtain the funds. Succarieh, whose occupation is listed as “driver”, has also been charged with making funds available to or collecting funds for terrorist organisation Jabhat al-Nusra since 10 August, 2013. Police also charged Succarieh with possessing dangerous drugs after allegedly finding the growth hormone somatropin at his Kuraby address on Wednesday. Kruezi has been charged with recruiting a person to Islamic State despite the Australian Federal Police saying on Wednesday neither he nor Succarieh had links to the group. AFP national manager counter-terrorism assistant commissioner, Neil Gaughan, told reporters on Wednesday that both men were connected to Syrian Sunni extremist group Jabhat al-Nusra. They appeared briefly in the dock of the Brisbane magistrates court on Thursday. Neither applied for bail during their back-to-back court appearances and both cases were adjourned to 17 October. The AFP and Queensland police officers raided the homes of Succarieh and Kruezi and seven other properties on Wednesday including the iQraa Islamic Centre in Logan. They seized a crossbow as well as the firearm and a large amount of electronic evidence in an operation that involved about 180 police and followed a year-long AFP investigation. Police said there was no suggestion the men were planning a terrorist attack in Australia but the properties were raided in the interest of public safety after weapons were discovered. |