Man tried for attempt to blow up Israeli embassy in Canberra

[Gimel]

A British-born Muslim convert was recruited by Al-Qaida for a plan to blow up the Israeli embassy in Canberra with a truck bomb, prosecutors said Monday on the opening day of the man's trial.

Jack Roche, 50, was told by senior officials in Osama bin Laden's terror network to form a terror cell in Australia to carry out the plot, prosecutor Ron Davies told Perth District Court. The bombing was never carried out.

Roche has pleaded innocent to one charge of conspiring to damage the Israeli embassy by means of explosives, and as a consequence harm diplomatic staff. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in convicted.

Prosecutors told the jury Roche traveled to Afghanistan to meet with senior figures from the terrorist organization - including bin Laden - in March 2000.

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