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by theage.com.au
4/10/06
ASIO and the
government will investigate why an alleged senior al-Qaeda operative was
allowed into Australia and whether he lied to immigration authorities
about his past.
Ahmad al-Hamwi, who
has lived in suburban Sydney's Riverwood for the past ten years, has
been accused of being a senior al-Qaeda bagman linked to the 1993 World
Trade Centre bomber, Ramzi Yousef.
Also known as Abu
Omar, Mr al-Hamwi was given asylum in Australia in June 1996.
He told the Refugee
Review Tribunal in 1996 he had no involvement in terrorism.
According to
Philippines police documents obtained by The Australian, Mr al-Hamwi was
allegedly a key figure in the Manila-based Islamic charity called the
International Research and Information Centre (IRIC) that funded
Yousef's terrorist cell which conspired to blow up US airliners and
assassinate Pope John Paul II.
He is also a
relative by marriage to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
An immigration
department spokeswoman told The Australian newspaper that Mr al-Hamwi's
file would be reopened and examined to determine whether he had
committed citizenship fraud.
If there was
sufficient evidence, his citizenship or residency could be revoked, the
spokeswoman said.
A spokeswoman for
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the information would be of
interest to ASIO and other agencies.
"If there are people
of a security concern our agencies would obviously be concerned and
investigating that," the spokeswoman said.
The federal
opposition has called for the government to explain why a person with
close ties to bin Laden had been given refuge in Australia.
© 2006 AAP
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