ASIO LINKS PRAYER HALL TO TERRORIST

[AussieMark]

ASIO links prayer hall to terrorist

A SYDNEY prayer hall has become the central focus for authorities piecing together suspected al-Qaeda terrorist Willie Brigitte's five months in Australia.

At least two members of the Lakemba prayer hall have been interviewed by ASIO agents over their association with the French national, deported to France two weeks ago to face terrorism charges.

The Haldon St premises is believed to be frequented by the Wahabi sect, whose members include hardline Muslim and local al-Qaeda suspect Bilal Khazal and Mamdouh Habib – one of two Australians being held by US forces in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The focus on the hall yesterday came as Brigitte, being held in a prison outside Paris, denied having any terrorist intention in Australia.

Brigitte, who was deported on October 17, has pleaded his innocence. In his "declaration" to French investigators, he said he came to Australia as a visitor and was contacted by Paris-based colleagues who wanted him to harbour an explosives specialist who had trained in Pakistan.

He told French authorities he had no intention of taking part in any crimes in Australia or elsewhere.

The 35-year-old was questioned extensively about his associates – believed to be Paris-based militant Islamic Algerians – and his stay in Australia.

His arrest led to a series of raids across Sydney.

A source from the Islamic community told The Daily Telegraph Brigitte would have been welcomed after being recommended by somebody "trustworthy" within that community.

Mr Khazal's lawyer Adam Houda yesterday denied his client knew Brigitte or had been questioned again by ASIO but could not rule out any association.

The former Qantas baggage handler has been under investigation for more than a decade and is believed to have links with the Wahabi sect, also known as Salafi – a strict form of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia.

The Daily Telegraph has learned there is a core group of about 50 men who belong to the Wahabi sect in Sydney.

That sect has disassociated itself with Sydney's wider Islamic community and does not recognise Mufti Sheik Taj el-dene Elhilaly as their spiritual leader.

"They circulate material about him, calling him someone outside their religion, even though some members were his former students," a source said.

eIn France, authorities claim Brigitte was a suspect in the 2001 bombing assassination of Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud and he also allegedly joined anti-US forces in Afghanistan.

A judicial official said Brigitte was suspected of providing false Belgian passports to the assassins who posed as journalists to get close to Massoud.

Brigitte was known as the "camper's chief" because he organised survival training lessons in Fontainebleau.

"This person is suspected of having helped provide the passports which made it possible for the assassins to enter Afghanistan and to approach the commander, Massoud," a French judicial source said.