Two suspected Tamil Tigers arrested in Australia

Police in Victoria have arrested two suspected members of Sri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tiger rebel group, charging them with funneling money to a terrorist organisation.

Melbourne, May 1 : Police in Victoria have arrested two suspected members of Sri Lanka's separatist Tamil Tiger rebel group, charging them with funneling money to a terrorist organisation.

The men, aged 32 and 36, were arrested in anti-terrorism raids in Melbourne and are expected to be produced before a court later today.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner said police were of the view that the two suspects actively raised funds with the knowledge that some of the money would be diverted to fund LTTE operations in Sri Lanka.

The arrests are significant in that they have been carried out while the LTTE has launched three aerial attacks across Sri Lanka, including one of the main Katunayake Air Force Base, claiming several lives. The Sri Lankan armed forces have retaliated, and have sought the assistance of the international community and friendly countries like India to neutralise such rebel attacks.

Meanwhile in Sydney, nine Muslims who were accused of stockpiling chemicals and explosive detonators ,have been ordered to stand trial on charges of planning terror attacks in Sydney.

A Sydney court magistrate, Michael Price, ruled on Monday that the men must stand trial after they were arrested last year in Australia's largest-ever counter-terrorism operation.

"The nine were committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court and will appear in that court on June 1, 2007," a foreign news agency quoted a court official as saying on Tuesday.

The nine appeared in March in a magistrates court in Penrith, west of Sydney, under a heavy blanket of security to allow Price to establish if they had a case to answer.

They were charged with planning terrorist strikes in Australia's most populous city, Sydney, reportedly including the bombing of its Lucas Heights nuclear reactor.

They were arrested in Sydney in November 2005 as part of a crackdown by security services in which a total of 18 Muslims were detained there and in Melbourne. The nine suspects had allegedly been urged by their leader, an Islamic cleric, to inflict "maximum damage" in Australia for the sake of jihad, or holy war.

At the time of their arrest, police alleged group members attended jihad training camps, stockpiled chemicals and detonators to make explosives and planned a "large-scale terrorist attack".

A court last September ordered 11 men to stand trial on terrorism charges. The prosecutor in that case said the men were strongly inspired by Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and one of the accused, cleric Abdul Nacer Benbrika, had urged the others to wage holy war and wreak havoc.

They were arrested days after the government passed tough new anti-terrorism legislation making it easier for police to prosecute suspects involved in the early stages of planning attacks.

Prime Minister John Howard pushed the legislation through parliament after expressing concern that Australia could face attacks similar to the deadly London transport bombings in July 2005.

ANI