Australia Woman Faces Supporting Terrorism Charge over Syria War

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An Australian mother was Monday charged with supporting terrorism after she was arrested trying to board a flight from Sydney with her four young children.

Reports said she was allegedly carrying cash and equipment -- believed to include camouflage gear -- for her husband fighting in war-torn Syria, although police would not confirm this.

"This arrest relates to Operation Duntulm that has a focus on foreign incursion offenses," police said in a statement.

"She was charged with supporting incursions into a foreign state with the intention of engaging in hostile activities."

The 29-year-old, who was arrested on Saturday evening, was granted strict conditional bail and will appear in Sydney's Downing Center Local Court on June 2.

Officials have previously said more than 100 Australian citizens have travelled to fight alongside rebels in Syria with the government earlier this year expressing concern after several reported deaths.

Attorney General George Brandis has said he was worried about Australians returning radicalized and with new skills to commit extremist acts.

Under Australian law, it is an offense to travel to a foreign state -- or assist someone to travel -- with the intention to engage in hostile activity, or to train or be trained regarding hostile activities.

Comments 1
Default-user-icon Mitch (Guest) 05 May 2014, 13:43

The Australian Intelligence Community (AIC) is weak and poses a risk to Australian's due to the mere fact it seldom employs officers from Arabic speaking backgrounds or heritage i.e. Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian, etc. They must learn from other countries and not wait for the 5th generation to come through befor they begin to hire...there are plenty of 1st & 2nd generation arabic speaking or understanding Australian who know the Arabic cultures and can work to mitigate the risk posed on our Australian way of life. You need just look at the CIA, MI6, Brazillian, French and German foreign Intellgience Agencies who have patriotic arabic speaking officers amongst their ranks.