Five Australian 'jihadis' sentenced for terrorism plot

Sydney, Feb 15(ANI): Five Australian men convicted of plotting to commit violent jihad on Australian soil have been jailed for minimum terms ranging from 17 years and three months to 21 years.

Justice Anthony Whealy sentenced the men in the New South Wales Supreme Court after a jury had found them guilty in October 2009 of the conspiracy, which involved stockpiling explosive chemicals and firearms, News.com.au reports.

The men, aged from 25 to 44, who cannot be named by order of the judge, were arrested in Sydney in 2005 as part of Australia's largest ever terror raids.

They have been found guilty of conspiring to commit an attack between July 2004 and November 2005 in retaliation for Australia's involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to reports, the government had also charged that one of the men had trained at a Lashkar-e-Taiba camp in Pakistan.

Crown prosecutor Richard Maidment said that the men were all devout Muslims driven by extremist beliefs to plot violent jihad in retaliation for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He further said that they had spent months working together to acquire chemicals, firearms and ammunition, and extremist literature found in their homes showed they had violent intent. (ANI)