OPERATION NEATH CONTINUES

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 MELBOURNE 000096

SIPDIS

STATE PLEASE PASS TO HOMELAND SECURITY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2019
TAGS: PTER PINR PREL KVPR AS
SUBJECT: OPERATION NEATH CONTINUES

REF: A. MELBOURNE 94

B. MELBOURNE 93

C. MELBOURNE 92

D. MELBOURNE 18

E. 08 MELBOURNE 117

F. 08 MELBOURNE 66

G. 08 CANBERRA 909

Classified By: Justin Kolbeck, Pol/Econ Officer for reasons 1.4(b),(d)

Summary
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1. (S) Australian authorities continue to investigate
additional suspects in Operation "Neath" which led to the
arrest and subsequent charging of five Melbourne-based men on
terror charges (refs. A-C). At least one more arrest will be
forthcoming as law enforcement agencies close the net on
Australia's second homegrown terror network. End summary.

Operation Continues
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2. (S) During an August 11 briefing, Australian Federal
Police (AFP) Counter Terrorism Coordinator Damien Appleby and
Victoria Police Detective Inspector Andrew Gustke informed
Consul General that at least one more arrest in Operation
Neath is likely in the very near future. Appleby and Gustke
estimate that the August 4 arrests "cut the head off the
snake," but they remain concerned about other potential
"shooters" who are implicated in plans to attack an
Australian defense installation. The AFP is closely watching
a sixth Australian citizen who is known to be fighting in
Somalia, but they expect that the man may be killed before
they are able to exercise a warrant on his return to
Australia. (Note: The man is a front-line machine gun
operator and often talks of being killed in the Somali
conflict. End note.)


3. (S) Appleby and Gustke believe that the five men arrested
and charged in Operation Neath came closer to actually
carrying out an attack than Abdul Nacer Benbrika and his
accomplices (refs. D-G) did in 2007-2008. While the five men
did not have the capacity to carry out the attack at the time
they were arrested, the AFP and Victoria Police believed that
the suspects, particularly Lebanese citizen Wissam Mahmoud
Fattal (DOB: 06/15/1976),were mentally committed to
achieving martyrdom through an attack with or without a
fatwah.


4. (S) A second man, Saney Edow Aweys (Somali born,
Australian citizen, DOB: 5/1/1983) is believed to have been
the ringleader with direct access to al Qa'ida East Africa.
Yacqub Khayre (Somali born, Australian citizen, DOB:
1/1/1987) has traveled to Somalia and served as the group's
liaison with al-Shabaab there. Appleby and Gustke
characterized Khayre as a "weakling" who struggled with the
harsh day to day life in Somalia and was not fully trusted by
the other four men. The AFP believes that Khayre may be
turned while in prison to serve as an informant in related
cases. The two other men are Nayef El Sayed, Australian
citizen born in Australia, (DOB: 2/2/1984) and Somali born,
Australian citizen Abdirahman Mohammad Ahmed (citizen, DOB:
7/27/1984).

Background from AFP/VicPol
--------------


5. (SBU) Operation Neath is a multi-agency investigation into
the activities of a Melbourne-based group of extremists,
numbering 23 persons of interest. The group is suspected of
planning a domestic terrorist attack in Australia; supporting
the Islamic insurgency in Somalia (al-Shabaab) through
fundraising and other activities; and traveling to Somalia to
fight for the Islamic insurgency. The plan involved four to
six group members obtaining firearms, entering a military
barracks and shooting as many personnel as possible before
being shot dead and achieving martyrdom. Not all group
members agreed with the plan because of the negative
repercussions on Muslim communities in Australia.


6. (SBU) The group actively sought a fatwa from a Sheikh in

MELBOURNE 00000096 002 OF 002


Somalia on the permissibility of carrying out a terrorist act
on a military barracks in Australia. Failing to convince the
first Sheikh, a second Sheikh eventually rejected the fatwa
on the grounds that such an operation was not permissible
because the benefits would be far outweighed by the problems
it would create for Australian Muslims. The Sheikh further
alluded to the negative impact it would have on the financial
support flowing from Australia (total remittances from
Australia to Somalia are estimated to be less than US$830,000
per month) to Somalia in support of al-Shabaab.

Preston Mosque
--------------


7. (S) Appleby and Gustke confirmed that Operation Neath
centered on the Preston mosque (Ref. A) where several
worshipers were observed stating that they intended to go to
Iraq, Afghanistan or East Africa for the "real jihad." The
five men met, exercised and watched terror-related videos in
the back room of the Preston mosque. Extremists from
Lebanese and other middle-eastern extraction were told that
they would stand out as "foreign fighters" and were
eventually prevented from traveling abroad. Because the
Preston mosque is home to both Australia's Mufti, Sheikh
Fehmi Naji El Imam as well as the Islamic Society of
Victoria, Appleby and Gustke acknowledged that political
sensitivities have forced them to keep a close hold on the
Preston mosque connection.

Comment
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8. (S) Our contacts within the AFP and the Victoria Police
praise intelligence collaboration between Australia and the
United States, but request that more cooperation be carried
out between countries with large Somali populations such as
Sweden, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Specifically, these contacts appreciate roving witness
programs with the FBI and would like to see their application
expanded. Positive public relations could be an added
benefit of this increased collaboration.

THURSTON