Howard defiant over terror threat

Australia’s prime minister said his government would ignore a threat of attack by a suspected arm of al-Qaida, vowing never to negotiate with terrorists.

John Howard’s comments came as foreign minister Alexander Downer renewed criticism of the Philippines and Spain, saying the two countries had emboldened terrorists by withdrawing troops from Iraq early.

At the weekend Downer said the Tawhid Islamic Group, which threatened car bomb attacks on Australian soil if it did not pull out its troops, had been “encouraged” by the Philippines’ withdrawal to save a hostage and Spain’s pull-out after the Madrid train bombings in March.

Manila and Madrid immediately protested, calling Downer’s comments “narrow-minded” and “totally unacceptable”.

Howard said threats by the purported al-Qaida affiliate would not alter Australia’s position.

“We are still investigating the authenticity and relevance of that body but we will not take any notice of threats of that kind,” Howard told reporters in Sydney. ”We will not parlay and negotiate with terrorists.”

Downer described the spate of hostage-taking that followed the release of Filipino truck driver Angelo dela Cruz last week as an inevitable consequence of the Philippines changing its troop withdrawal timetable.

“We’ve seen since the Philippines government acceded to the demands of the terrorists a whole spate of new hostage taking,” Downer said yesterday. “And I’m afraid that’s what inevitably is going to happen in those circumstances.”

The presence of Australian troops in Iraq is looming as a major issue at elections due this year.

The government has said the 880 Australian troops in and around Iraq will remain as long as they are needed, while the opposition Labour Party has vowed to withdraw troops by Christmas if it wins government.

Labour’s foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said Downer should not have made his criticisms public.

“I question the wisdom of Mr Downer declaring World War III publicly on the government of the Philippines,” he said.

“We have Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Sayef and other terrorist organisations at work within the Philippines and elsewhere within Islamic south-east Asia. Therefore, it’s important we have a good working relationship in our dealings with the Philippines government.”

The Tawhid Islamic Group, which claims to be al-Qaida’s European branch, posted an internet notice over the weekend threatening to turn Australia and Italy into “pools of blood” if they did not withdraw their troops from Iraq.

Downer said the Spanish government had told Australian ambassador Susan Tanner in Madrid that his comments were all the more unacceptable because they came from a friendly country.

“We’re not going to apologise but we’ll let bygones be bygones,” Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio Tuesday.

Police said Tawhid Islamic Group had long had a cell in the Victorian state capital of Melbourne, the Herald Sun newspaper in Melbourne reported today.

An undercover informer working with law enforcers uncovered the cell while trying to infiltrate another Middle Eastern gang a decade ago, the newspaper said.