The Advertiser September 6, 2003
Security breaches trigger alarm bells
By DOUG CONWAY
Ongoing attacks overseas and a series of terror-related issues at home have given Australians cause to be more alert and alarmed than ever, DOUG CONWAY argues.
AUSTRALIANS are told by the Federal Government to be alert, but not alarmed about terrorism.
Some, however, are alarmed that too many are not alert.
The government itself was not alert enough to put its terrorism hotline number in the White Pages, an oversight which led to a prime ministerial apology.
Customs security was not alert enough to prevent two bogus computer technicians of Arabic appearance from strolling into a top-security mainframe room at Sydney airport, dismantling two computers and wheeling them out on trolleys.
The computers are said to contain thousands of confidential memos between customs, ASIO and federal police.
A Sydney security firm was not alert enough to stop two armed men from raiding its suburban office and stealing 34 Glock handguns. Obliging Security Services has no more idea than anyone whose hands those guns will end up in.
Intelligence services or police or both were not alert enough to act quickly on information linking two Muslim leaders in Australia with alleged al-Qaida official Abu Dahdah, being held in a Spanish prison over his dealings with September 11 hijacker Mohammad Atta.
Federal police have only just sought permission to interview Dahdah, three years after Australian agencies say they first became aware of his alleged Australian links and two years since he was detained.
One of the Muslim leaders, former Qantas baggage handler Bilal Khazal of Sydney, was named in Spanish court documents suggesting he sought help from Dahdah to move a "brother" and his family through Europe.
The other, Melbourne cleric Sheikh Mohammed Omran, who has denied any links to Dahdah, was also allegedly involved in fundraising activities with Mamdouh Habib, the Sydney man being held by the US in Camp X-ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
It will not much matter how alert the airline industry is to foiling any attempt to fire a shoulder-launched missile at a big passenger jet, according to some experts.
Sooner or later it is bound to happen, they say. Even Prime Minister John Howard admits this is now a more likely threat than hijacking. "Do it at multiple airports on multiple continents and people won't fly," said United States security expert John Pike.
Qantas says it would cost $700 million to protect its global fleet with military-style anti-missile systems, and better results would be achieved if the government tried to identify potential launch sites near airports.
That's not going to be easy, though. The surface-to-air missiles can be fired in 65 seconds from a range of more than 5km. They travel at 1250km/h to altitudes more than 4km and contain infra-red sensors that lock on to the heat generated by aircraft engines.
Then there are the hundreds of suburban and regional airports around the country where, according to one expert, anyone could walk onto the field and "within five minutes" find a light aircraft that can be started by a button rather than a key.
Federal police confirm they have 65 active inquiries on their hands into terror-related claims.
A dozen are said to be of a serious nature involving links to terror suspects, military training, bomb-making equipment or shady financial dealings.
It's enough to make you alert and alarmed.
© Copyright 2003 Nationwide News Pty Limited
