Queensland premier alleges arrested man had planned an onshore attack
|
Version 0 of 1. A man arrested by Queensland police was allegedly planning an onshore terrorist attack, the premier said. Police conducted raids last week in the Brisbane area and arrested two men who are accused of funding and recruiting for Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq and Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria. Campbell Newman and the Queensland police commissioner, Ian Stewart, said authorities alleged they had since come across “disturbing” new information about the plans of one of the men. “It may now be alleged that at least one individual was contemplating onshore terrorist action,” Newman told reporters in Brisbane. While they would not give any more detail about the allegations, Stewart said the development was disturbing. “We have been able to avert a tragedy on Australian soil,” he said. However, the police commissioner provided scant information about raids across Queensland on Thursday morning involving 70 police officers. There have been no confirmed arrests in those raids and there is no information available about how the raids are linked to larger raids across the country on Thursday. Stewart said the allegations would come out in the court process. “The information gathered particularly in the last week has been very, very concerning and it has added to the information we had and the reason we took action … last week,” he said. Newman called on the public to be aware that a small number of people in the community wished to harm them. “That means that people do need to be vigilant; they need to also be patient and understanding that there will be additional security measures around in our state, particularly in south-east Queensland,” he said. But he also urged Queenslanders to not let the raids poison relationships in the community. “If anybody uses what’s happened to vilify any group, any race, any religion, essentially they are playing into the hands of these terror groups. It’s actually helping these groups achieve what they want to achieve.” Stewart said the information about a terrorist action on home soil had emerged since police raids in Brisbane and Logan last week, which led to two arrests. “That information has only become available since those people were taken into custody in Queensland,” he said. He also confirmed the raids in Brisbane on Thursday were linked to last week’s arrests. “Yes, the raids were linked to our ongoing investigation involving both those people,” Stewart said. Omar Succarieh, 31, was one of the two men arrested last week. He is charged with providing funds to the Syrian extremist group Jabhat al-Nusra and helping another man, Agim Kruezi, obtain funds to fight for a terrorist organisation overseas. Succarieh was applying for bail in the supreme court in Brisbane on Thursday afternoon. |