FACTBOX-Somalia's al Shabaab rebels,Australia foils terrorist plot to attack army base

Video:Alleged suicide attack plot foiled in Australia
Aug 4 (Reuters) - Australian police arrested four men linked to Somalia's al Shabaab militants on Tuesday, accusing them of planning a suicide attack on an army base and raising concerns the al Qaeda-linked group is seeking targets outside Africa.
-- Prosecutors told Melbourne Magistrate's Court they had evidence some of the men had taken part in training in Somalia and at least one had engaged in frontline fighting there.
Here are some details about the al Shabaab group:..more..http://alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP461508.htm
Australia foils terrorist plot to attack army base
MELBOURNE, Australia — Australian police said Tuesday they thwarted a terrorist plot in which extremists with ties to an al-Qaida-linked Somali Islamist group planned to invade a military base and open fire with automatic weapons until they were shot dead themselves.
Some 400 officers from state and national security services took part in 19 raids on properties in Melbourne, Australia's second largest city, before dawn Tuesday, arresting four men and detaining several others for questioning, police said.
Australian Federal Police Acting Commissioner Tony Negus said the raids followed a seven-month surveillance operation of a group of people with alleged ties to al-Shabaab, an Islamist organization fighting to overthrow Somalia's Western-backed transitional government.
"Police will allege that the men were planning to carry out a suicide terrorist attack on a defense establishment within Australia involving an armed assault with automatic weapons," Negus told reporters.
"Details of the planning indicated the alleged offenders were prepared to inflict a sustained attack on military personnel until they themselves were killed," he said.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the plot underscored that Australia is still under threat from extremist groups enraged that the country sent troops to join the U.S.-led military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq...more..http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iF43nm01n64aGygZE0BvOuQKMp3wD99S3AC00
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