Off the wire
• Xinhua China news advisory -- Feb. 23  • (Sports)China could win World Cup within 10 or 15 years: Sven-Goran Eriksson  • China calls for more representation of African countries in UN Security Council  • Cuba to deploy 9,000 troops to prevent Zika virus  • Costa Rica reports first endemic case of Zika  • Russia grants credit to support increasing electricity generation in Cuba  • Feature: Bangladeshi book fair highlights love of printed books in digital era  • Knights, damsels, Vikings set to recreate Middle Ages in Mexico  • Myanmar bans visit to Bagan ancient pagodas for conservation  • Roundup: U.S., Russia announce Syria ceasefire plan, questions unresolved  
You are here: 　 Home

Teenage bride of Aussie terror suspect arrested by counter-terror police

Xinhua, February 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

The teenage bride of an Australian terror suspect has herself been arrested by counter terrorism police on Tuesday for recklessly possessing a thing and documents connected to a terror attack.

New South Wales (NSW) counter-terrorism authorities arrested the teenage bride, wife of terrorism suspect Sameh Bayda who is currently in custody at Goulburn's SuperMax prison, on Tuesday morning.

Bayda was arrested and charged with three counts of collecting documents likely to facilitate terror attacks in late January.

The teenager, named in local media as 18-year-old Alo-Bridget Namoa, was already on bail relating to 31 charges of failing to answer questions during a NSW Crime Commission hearing in relation to her husband's charges.

New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner for counter-terror Catherine Burn told reporters in Sydney it is alleged that the bride had possession of a knife and documents relating to a terror attack.

"I really stress that this is not a fresh matter, there is no new specific threat that we are dealing with," New South Wales state police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.

"These are connected to previous matters that have been put before the courts."

When asked why the teenager wasn't arrested earlier this month when she was charged with the 31 counts of failing to answer questions, Burn said, "we seize material, we examine it and collate the evidence."

"When we are convinced that we have enough evidence to put before the court, that's what we'll do," Burn said.

"Our investigators do work very, very hard. We might not put the person before the court at the time but if we are investigating such information and we believe they are involved, persistence pays off."

It's understood the pair were subjects of Firearm Prohibition Orders, prohibiting them from owning firearms and allowing police to search their homes without a warrant.

When Namoa was served the order on January 13, it is alleged police found the knife rapped in a Shahada flag in her handbag, a mobile phone filled with Islamic State (IS) propaganda and information on how to make an improvised explosive device, Fairfax Media reported.

Australia has been on heightened alert for attacks by home-grown radicals since September 2014. So far the authorities have arrested numerous terror suspects, 11 in Sydney alone, in connection with domestic terror plots.

In early December 2015, Australian counter terrorism authorities arrested a 20-year-old man and a 15-year-old teenager in connection with an alleged plot targeting Australian government buildings, including the Australian Federal Police (AFP) headquarters in Sydney.

The two men and three others already in jail on related charges, are believed to be associates, though no direct links, of those who radicalized a teenager who executed police accountant Curtis Cheng in early October 2015. Endit