Mommy, can I have that bomb in the window? The one with the waggley fuse?

Mums' permission needed for terror plan
By Natalie O'Brien, NEWS.com.au

November 15, 2005



MAZEN Touma and Omar Baldjam were training for jihad.

Police claim they talked about running to ensure they were fit when the time came "to shoot some motherf..kers".
But first they needed permission from their own mums.

Extracts from transcripts of secretly recorded conversations, produced in evidence yesterday before Sydney's Central Local Court, show that the terror suspects were allegedly ordered by their spiritual leader, Abdul Nacer Benbrika, to consult their parents before waging jihad.

"Some people claim to love jihad but don't respect their own parents," Mr Benbrika allegedly said. "You need permission from your parents to go to jihad. If your mother says no jihad, then no jihad."

It was July 31. The suspects were alleged to have gathered at 24-year-old Khaled Sharrouf's modest Wiley Park home in Sydney's west to hear a sermon from Mr Benbrika. The 45-year-old is alleged to have travelled from Melbourne to speak to the men in the Bradley Crescent bungalow.

Two days later Mr Touma, 25, allegedly requested permission from his mother to undertake jihad. Her response does not appear in the police evidence and the family refused to speak to The Australian yesterday.

Little is known about Mr Touma, except that he was born in Lebanon, is married with pre-school-aged children and lived in an apartment block in Bankstown, in Sydney's west.

His wife has not been seen at home since last week's raids.

Neighbours have also said they know little about the family. But they said friends had dropped by in the past week, collecting some of the family's belongings.

It is alleged from the statement of facts tendered to the court that Mr Touma and co-accused and former actor Omar Baldjam, 28, had been undergoing fitness training for some time.

A bugged conversation between the men alleged to have taken place on March 24 had them talking about training, running, and getting fit and healthy to "shoot some motherf..kers" on the order from Allah.

The police brief also alleged that they seized from Mr Touma's home video cassettes titled Are you ready to die?, and Sheik Osama's training course.

It is alleged that the police also seized weapons including a Glock pistol, a pump-action shotgun and more than 20 boxes of ammunition including magazines for a rifle, shotgun shells, pistol cartridge packs and boxes of .22 and .40 calibre bullets.

The list of seized items also includes canisters containing 165 railway detonators and batteries.

They also found a silver and black replica pistol and plastic boxes filled with gunpowder.

It is not known if Mr Touma was a registered gun holder.

However, the police statement says that Mr Balajdam was and that he had approached the Condell Park Indoor Shooting range, in Sydney's southwest, to ask about opening times.

(Source)


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