`State not under threat of an attack’: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Stapleton, John. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 03 Nov 2006: 5.
Stapleton, John. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 03 Nov 2006: 5.
Abstract
Assistant Commissioner Nick Kaldas yesterday called a press conference to refute claims that Sydney’s Kings Cross train station had been the target of a terrorist bomb plot.
The reports claimed Sydney brothers Mohammed and Abdullah Ayub, who have been detained in Yemen on suspicion of terror-related offences, were linked to plotters who were stockpiling a range of chemicals that could be used in a bomb attack at Kings Cross.
Full Text
NSW’s most senior counter-terrorist police officer has denied the state is at risk of an imminent terrorist attack.
Assistant Commissioner Nick Kaldas yesterday called a press conference to refute claims that Sydney’s Kings Cross train station had been the target of a terrorist bomb plot.
Mr Kaldas said reports in The Daily Telegraph had confused several different stories and linked them into one.
The reports claimed Sydney brothers Mohammed and Abdullah Ayub, who have been detained in Yemen on suspicion of terror-related offences, were linked to plotters who were stockpiling a range of chemicals that could be used in a bomb attack at Kings Cross.
He said it appeared the reports had mistakenly linked aspects of separate events, including the arrest of 20 terror suspects in November last year as part of Operation Pendennis. The reports also referred to the arrest of another person over an alleged plot to plant explosives, perhaps in the vicinity of Kings Cross.
“There seems to be significant confusion in the reporting. We have no information to link the three incidents. These things seem to be confused and mixed up. There is no immediate threat and I am unaware of any plot to bomb Kings Cross station.”
Assistant Commissioner Kaldas said a person had been arrested and charged in December last year with attempting to obtain explosive materials.
The arrest had been led by Counter-Terrorism Co-ordination Command. “There was some evidence from conversations that led us to believe it could be in the area of Kings Cross,” he said.
NSW Police Minister John Watkins said police were well prepared for a terrorist incident.
“The public needs to be confident. Everything that can be done has been done. There is no more important issue than counter- terrorism for the state Government,” he said.
“That is why we have given police the capacity to deal with that. It is clear that mass-transport systems are a favourite target of terrorists and that is why we have installed 6000 CCTV cameras around the city.
“We will continue to prepare relentlessly for a terrorist threat on our soil,” Mr Watkins said.
NSW’s most senior counter-terrorist police officer has denied the state is at risk of an imminent terrorist attack.
Assistant Commissioner Nick Kaldas yesterday called a press conference to refute claims that Sydney’s Kings Cross train station had been the target of a terrorist bomb plot.
Mr Kaldas said reports in The Daily Telegraph had confused several different stories and linked them into one.
The reports claimed Sydney brothers Mohammed and Abdullah Ayub, who have been detained in Yemen on suspicion of terror-related offences, were linked to plotters who were stockpiling a range of chemicals that could be used in a bomb attack at Kings Cross.
He said it appeared the reports had mistakenly linked aspects of separate events, including the arrest of 20 terror suspects in November last year as part of Operation Pendennis. The reports also referred to the arrest of another person over an alleged plot to plant explosives, perhaps in the vicinity of Kings Cross.
“There seems to be significant confusion in the reporting. We have no information to link the three incidents. These things seem to be confused and mixed up. There is no immediate threat and I am unaware of any plot to bomb Kings Cross station.”
Assistant Commissioner Kaldas said a person had been arrested and charged in December last year with attempting to obtain explosive materials.
The arrest had been led by Counter-Terrorism Co-ordination Command. “There was some evidence from conversations that led us to believe it could be in the area of Kings Cross,” he said.
NSW Police Minister John Watkins said police were well prepared for a terrorist incident.
“The public needs to be confident. Everything that can be done has been done. There is no more important issue than counter- terrorism for the state Government,” he said.
“That is why we have given police the capacity to deal with that. It is clear that mass-transport systems are a favourite target of terrorists and that is why we have installed 6000 CCTV cameras around the city.
“We will continue to prepare relentlessly for a terrorist threat on our soil,” Mr Watkins said.