UK-born Muslim denies embassy bomb plot

A British-born Muslim convert who claims he trained with al-Qa'ida in Afghanistan was charged yesterday with plotting to blow up diplomatic missions in Australia.

Jack Roche, 49, was remanded in custody at Perth magistrates' court in Western Australia amid tight security. Mr Roche, who was arrested on Monday night by Australian federal police, denied planning bomb attacks on the Israeli embassy in Canberra and the consulate in Sydney.

There has been a series of armed raids on the homes of Australian Muslims by police and intelligence officers after last month's Bali bombing. Ninety of the 180 victims were Australian.

Mr Roche, who was born in England, has lived in Australia for many years. He is married to an Indonesian-born woman and converted to Islam 10 years ago. In interviews after the raid on his house in Perth, he said he travelled to Afghanistan two years ago, trained to use explosives and briefly met Osama bin Laden.

The suspect, believed to be a member of Jamaah Islamiya (JI), the South-east Asian terrorist group linked with al-Qa'ida, also claimed to have visited Malaysia, where he met Hambali, JI's operations chief. He said Hambali asked him to recruit "three or four" Caucasians in Australia to form an al-Qa'ida cell.

At the hearing yesterday, his lawyer, Robert Mazza, said he intended to plead innocent to two charges of conspiracy to bomb diplomatic premises. Mr Mazza said: "He disavows violence and wants the matter dealt with quickly."

The prosecutor, Martyn Plummer, says Mr Roche conspired with others while in Malaysia, Pakistan and Afghanistan between February and May 2000 to "destroy or damage by fire or explosives" diplomatic property in Australia and to harm diplomatic personnel. He faces a maximum sentence of 45 years if convicted.

Mr Roche is the first person to be charged in Australia with terrorism-linked offences since the Bali bombing, although police said the arrest was not connected with that attack. He will appear in court a week today, and apply for bail.

JI is widely suspected of organising the Bali blasts at two nightclubs in Kuta Beach resort. An Indonesian man in custody in Bali who has confessed to being a member of the terrorist cell is closely acquainted with JI's spiritual leader, Abu Bakar Bashir. During the media interviews this month, Mr Roche said he met Mr Bashir during one of his visits to Australia in the mid-Nineties. "I liked what he was saying," he said. "It was very clear. It all made sense." He said he joined a group of people who organised the visits, and he attended Mr Bashir's lectures and visited him at the places where he was staying.

Mr Roche, who speaks fluent Indonesian, claimed he was "seconded" to Hambali after immersing himself in the teachings of Mr Bashir's "true Islam". He said that when he met Hambali in the Malaysian town of Banting, Mr Bashir was living next-door. Mr Bashir has been arrested in Indonesia on terrorism charges unrelated to the Bali bombing.

In the interviews, Mr Roche said: "I believe Abu Bakar Bashir is supporting Osama bin Laden on the basis of what he sees as Osama bin Laden having the courage of his convictions and sincerely believes what he is doing is right. As far as I know, Osama bin Laden is innocent until proven guilty."