A British Muslim convert characterized an alleged mission to bomb the Israeli embassy in Australia as his obligation to Allah to perform jihad, his son told a court yesterday.
The alleged al-Qaida recruit, Jack Roche, 50, made the comment in a letter sent in 2000 from Afghanistan, where prosecutors say he met with al-Qaida leaders to hatch the plot, reported the Scotsman newspaper.
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Roche wrote in the letter, read by his son Jens Holland, 24: "There are always doubts ... but as Muslims we are obligated to perform jihad to uphold the laws of Allah, the truth on his earth."
Holland testified in Perth District Court on the second day of his father's trial, the Scottish paper said.
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"The disbelievers are now out of control, and believe their ways – ways based on inequality, arrogance, etc. – are right," Roche wrote. "I hate them for that."
The plan was to bomb the embassy in Canberra to bring attention to the Palestinians, but it never was carried out.
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Roche faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted for conspiring to damage the embassy and harm diplomatic staff.
Holland said after his father returned from 10 days in an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan, he joined him on trips to survey targets in Canberra and Sydney, the Scotsman reported.
