Sydney men arrested over Syria war plans
Police execute seven search warrants after a four month investigation into a syndicate allegedly sending Australians to fight with Al-Qaeda in Syria. Nine News.
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Two Sydney men have been arrested for attempting to help terrorist organisations in the Syrian conflict in what police say is an Australian first.
A 39-year-old St Helen's Park man was arrested on Tuesday, accused of being "actively involved" in recruiting six men and facilitating their travel to Syria to fight with terrorist organisations Jabhat Al Nusra and al-Qaeda affiliates.
These groups make up a large proportion of the rebel forces trying to overthrow the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
One of the recruited men, a 23-year-old from Lidcombe, was also arrested on Tuesday morning.
He is expected to be charged with undertaking preparations to travel to Syria.
Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner National Security Peter Drennan said the whereabouts of the other five were not known.
Despite intelligence to suggest about 100 Australians are fighting in Syria, Tuesday's arrests were the first time any Australians have been charged under the Crimes (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment) Act for their involvement in the Syrian conflict.
Mr Drennan said the federal police believed there were other similar recruitment networks operating in Australia, some of which were being monitored by police.
However, he said it was nearly impossible to stop Australians from travelling abroad or to obtain intelligence in Syria to then charge them when they returned home.
He said it was a very "fluid" situation in Syria and evidence gathering was difficult.
"I realise that the situation in Syria is an important issue for many people in our community but there is no justification for violence. The violent killing of people should not be glorified or justified for any reason," he said.
NSW Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn said the alleged offences were "extremely serious criminal activity" that carry imprisonment terms of up to 10 years.
She said there was a significant risk that Australians would return from the Syrian conflict with knowledge, skills and training from terrorist organisations.
"They might be a degree of radicalisation," she said.
Federal laws ban the recruitment, funding, training or participation in the conflict in Syria.
Fairfax Media has previously reported on episodes of sectarian violence in Sydney and Melbourne sparked by events in Syria.
There have been shootings, extortion attempts and firebombings between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
The Syrian conflict pits the Sunni-dominated rebellion against the Alawite-dominated regime of Mr Assad and has divided the Middle East.
Iran, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and the broader Shiite Muslim population, of which the Alawites are an offshoot, have backed the Assad regime while the Sunni regimes of Saudi Arabia and Qatar and the large Sunni population in Lebanon have sided with the rebels.
Some Muslim leaders in Sydney have also given provocative lectures urging young Australian Muslims to join their brothers in fighting the regime.
The two men arrested on Tuesday are expected to appear in Bankstown and Burwood local courts.
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