Man Charged after Australian Terror Raids
A man was charged with terrorism offences in Australia Thursday after a series of raids connected to a Melbourne Islamic center.
The 23-year-old was charged after a police swoop on properties across the city netted computers, firearms and a thumb drive containing "violent extremist materials" linked to a group at the al-Furqan Islamic Center.
"The individual has been charged with four counts of 'collecting or making documents likely to facilitate terrorist acts'," police said in a statement.
"The maximum penalty for this offence is 15 years imprisonment."
The man was arrested during Wednesday's raids at al-Furqan and more than 10 associated properties and police said he was due to face court later Thursday.
Police confirmed that further "operational activity" was under way but could not provide details, following reports of a fresh search of a home in eastern Melbourne on Thursday morning.
The raids are linked to a group from the center who police allege were "contemplating and getting information" about terrorist activities, though they stressed no plot was yet in train.
Local Muslims described the al-Furqan center group, linked to an outspoken cleric named Sheikh Haron, as being on the fringes of the community and having radical views.
"They are a splinter group that decided to go their own way. They had their own ideologies and interpretations and the other stuff that goes with it," said one man who occasionally prayed at the facility.
Another local told The Age newspaper Haron's following was "not large but his teachings are very fiery. He's a pretty marginalized figure in the Muslim community".
Among material being searched for by police, according to The Age, was "Inspire" -- an al-Qaida-linked publication that last year featured an image of the Sydney Opera House, the first time an Australian landmark has been prominent in extremist material according to the government.
Neighbors of the arrested man said they were stunned.
"They were pretty quiet and were always covered up when I saw the women," one neighbor who did not wish to be named told local media.
"They were not unpleasant but I'm just shocked."
Australia has disrupted at least four major homegrown terror plots since the 9/11 attacks on the United States, with 37 of the 38 people prosecuted as a result being Australian citizens.
Source: Agence France Presse
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