5 Guilty of Plotting Aussie Terror Attacks

Jihadists convicted of planning mass killings after 10-month trial
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 16, 2009 1:19 AM CDT
5 Guilty of Plotting Aussie Terror Attacks
A legal counsel member gestures during proceedings in Australia's Parramatta Court, west of Sydney.   (AP Photo/AAP Image, Paul Miller, POOL)

Five men have been convicted of conspiring to carry out terrorist attacks in Australia using guns and home-made explosives. The men, busted in raids in Sydney, were accused of plotting attacks to force the government to change its Middle East policy. One of the men trained at a terror camp in Pakistan while others prepared for holy war at training camps in the Australian wilderness, the Australian reports.

Jihadist literature, weapons, and bomb-making materials were found in the men's homes. The five, who could now face life sentences, were found guilty after a 10-month trial, one of the longest in Australian history. Prosecutors said that while they hadn't been able to determine what specific targets the suspects planned to attack, they had sufficient proof that their plans involved "extreme force and violence, including the killing of those who did not share their fundamentalist, extremist beliefs." (More Australia stories.)

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