SYDNEY: Australia has canceled the citizenship of an Algerian-born Muslim cleric who was convicted of leading a terrorist cell that planned to bomb a football match in Melbourne in 2005, Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton said on Wednesday.
Abdul Nacer Benbrika is now the first person to be stripped of his citizenship while still in Australia.
“If it’s a person who’s posing a significant terrorist threat to our country, then we’ll do whatever is possible within Australian law to protect Australians,” Dutton told reporters in Brisbane.
Benbrika was convicted on three terrorism charges. He was jailed for 15 years for directing a terrorist group, being a member of a terrorist group and possessing material associated with planning of a terrorist act.
Benbrika remains in an Australian prison despite finishing his sentence. Under Australian law Canberra is permitted to detain anyone convicted of terror offenses for up to three years after their sentence finishes.
Lawyers for Benbrika have appealed against his ongoing detention. He has 90 days to appeal the cancelation of his visa and return to Algeria.
Under Australian law, a person can only be stripped of their citizenship if they are dual citizens, thereby preventing people from being made stateless.
Australia used the powers in 2019 to strip the citizenship of Neil Prakash, an alleged Daesh recruiter who is imprisoned in Turkey. Australia argued he was a dual citizen as he also has Fijian citizenship, though Fiji denied the claim — souring the bilateral relationship.
Australia cancels citizenship of Muslim cleric in local first
https://arab.news/4792n
Australia cancels citizenship of Muslim cleric in local first
- Abdul Nacer Benbrika the first person to be stripped of his citizenship while still in Australia
US might keep or might sell oil seized near Venezuela, Trump says
- “If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough,” he said
PALM BEACH, Florida: US President Donald Trump said on Monday it would be smart for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to leave power, and the United States could keep or sell the oil it had seized off the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks.
Trump’s pressure campaign on Maduro has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels allegedly trafficking drugs in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near the South American nation. At least 100 people have been killed in the attacks.
Asked if the goal was to force Maduro from power, Trump told reporters: “Well, I think it probably would... That’s up to him what he wants to do. I think it’d be smart for him to do that. But again, we’re gonna find out.”
“If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough,” he said.
“He’s no friend to the United States. He’s very bad. Very bad guy. He’s gotta watch his ass because he makes cocaine and they send it into the US“
In addition to the strikes, Trump has previously announced a “blockade” of all oil tankers under sanctions entering and leaving Venezuela. The US Coast Guard started pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela on Sunday, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful.
“Maybe we will sell it, maybe we will keep it,” Trump said when asked what would happen with the seized oil, adding it might also be used to replenish the United States’ strategic reserves.
