Terrorist 'seeking deal' over bomb plot conviction

A British-born man convicted of plotting with al-Qaida to blow up the Israeli embassy in Canberra is attempting to strike a deal with authorities in return for giving evidence against terror suspects in Indonesia, France and Germany, a newspaper reported in Perth.

Jack Roche, a 50-year-old British-born Islamic convert, has been interviewed by Australian Federal Police agents twice since he was convicted in the Western Australia state District Court in May on charges he conspired to blow up the embassy in 2000, The Australian newspaper said.

The interviews had produced two witness statements for Indonesian authorities, two for the Germans and one for France’s terrorism investigation judge, the newspaper said.

Roche refused to sign the statements and commit to giving evidence at foreign trials without significant concessions, the newspaper reported.

Roche’s lawyer Hylton Quail refused to comment on the report today, citing Roche’s September 9 appeal against the severity of his nine-year sentence.

“Things are at a very delicate stage, as I have now said a few times, but I cannot say any more,” Quail said. “My hands are tied because of the appeal process. I’d probably say a lot more about it if it weren’t subject to appeal.”

Roche became the first person convicted of terrorism in Australia when he pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges 10 days into his trial.

While Roche is appealing against his sentence on the grounds that it does not give him sufficient credit for co-operating with authorities, federal prosecutors are also appealing it, claiming it is too lenient.

During his trial, prosecutors said Roche joined the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah before travelling to Afghanistan via Pakistan.

In Pakistan, he met a senior al-Qaida member he called Mukhtar, whom he later identified as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Mohammed is a suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

Mukhtar questioned Roche about Israeli targets in Australia and arranged his passage to Afghanistan, where Roche met al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.