Author:
Publication: Ninemsn.com.au
Date: November 1, 2006
URL: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=64864
The head of spy agency ASIO says he was shocked
by the magnitude of the home-grown terrorist threat facing Australia when
he took charge of the organisation.
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
director general Paul O'Sullivan said he was alarmed by the number of Australians
who were travelling overseas to train as terrorists when he up the job 16
months ago.
"I was surprised to see that we do have
a serious problem in Australia," he told a National Press Club dinner
in Canberra.
"It does come as something of a shock
to see that there are home-grown people who would like to do us harm in this
country."
Mr O'Sullivan was also asked about the fate
of two Iraqi asylum seekers who were the subject of adverse security assessments
by ASIO, one of whom is still in immigration detention on the Pacific island
of Nauru.
Both men were picked up by the cargo ship
Tampa in August 2001.
Mr O'Sullivan said Mohammed Sagar, the man
being held on Nauru, was not interested in settling in Australia.
The other man, Muhammad Faisal, was flown
to Australia in August to treat his mental illness.
Mr O'Sullivan said Mr Faisal had applied for
a new protection visa and would automatically get a new security assessment
from ASIO as a result.
In response to a question from the floor,
Mr O'Sullivan said the role of ASIO had changed fundamentally since the September
11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Intelligence gathered by the organisation
was being used increasingly as evidence in court proceedings and this was
changing the way the agency was collecting and recording evidence, he said.
