Australia attack AUSTRALIAN police said they foiled an act of terrorism inspired by a radical Islamic cleric after police raids Tuesday in which one suspect was shot and 15 others arrested. The raids in Melbourne and Sydney, involving more than 450 heavily-armed officers backed by helicopters, came less than a week after Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he had credible information an attack was being planned. Police arrested seven people in Sydney and nine in Melbourne. Among those arrested in Melbourne was Algerian-born cleric Abu Bakr, who is the leader of both the Sydney and Melbourne groups and who has previously praised Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden as "a great man". The Sydney suspects were charged with planning to manufacture explosives in preparation for a terrorist act. All those charged in both cities were refused bail. Authorities did not detail any targets selected by the group, but have said in recent months that suspects had carried out surveillance activities on the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, railway stations and the Melbourne stock exchange. The arrests came days after the government passed an urgent amendment to anti-terrorism laws making it easier for police to prosecute suspects involved in the early stages of planning attacks. These new powers helped police to carry out their raids. Police Commissioner Ken Maroney said the operation was ongoing and he expected further arrests in the coming days and weeks. Azerbaijani polls AZERBAIJAN's opposition coalition protested yesterday in an attempt to overturn what it called blatantly fraudulent election results in Azerbaijan, and to rally dissatisfied citizens who still live in poverty despite the country's oil riches. A Western-dominated observer group supported the opposition claims saying on Monday that the weekend's parliamentary elections fell short of international standards. Observers had witnessed attempts to influence voter choices, unauthorised persons directing or interfering in the voting process and cases of ballot box stuffing. Initial results showed that President Ilham Aliev's New Azerbaijan Party won by a comfortable margin. He hailed the elections as a success and reflection of the will of the people. He said electoral violations had occurred only in a small number of districts. Aliev's party won 63 out of the 125 seats in the national assembly. A number of nominally independent candidates who won seats are thought likely to support the government. The opposition won six seats only. In response to opposition concerns, Aliev said his government would study the foreign observers' reports and take steps to correct shortcomings, including ordering prosecutors to investigate.
