Pinay in Australia linked to al-Qaeda in 2010 diplomatic cable

Six women in Australia, including a 39-year-old Filipina were linked by United States intelligence agencies to an alleged plot of the terrorist group al-Qaeda to recruit women for subversive attacks, a report of the Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday said. The Herald report was based on a diplomatic cable discussing Australian links to al-Qaeda published on the Wikileaks website. The cable originated from the US Embassy in Canberra on January 21 last year and "was sent to US intelligence agencies and 15 US diplomatic stations," the Herald said. The cable recommended for inclusion in Australia's "No Fly" and "Selectee" lists 23 individuals, including the six women who were linked to al-Qaeda. "The 23 individuals are Australian citizens, or are Australia-based, and are of security interest because they have either an historical or current association with Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, or are based in Yemen or the surrounding region and may come into contact with al-Aulaqi," the cable said. One of the persons named in the cable was a certain Maryam Santos (a.k.a. Umm Talha), who was born on April 13, 1972 in the Philippines. The US Embassy in Canberra recommended that she be included in the No Fly List "due to her association with al-Aulaqi, and fact that recent threat information suggests AQ Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is looking to identify a female for a future attack." The AQAP is said to be al-Qaeda's most internationally active branch. The Herald report said the AQAP "is believed to have played a role in nearly all the attempted terrorist attacks in the West since 2009." "Also, she is a Filipino located out of country, making her an attractive target for AQAP to deploy against U.S. and allied interests. Her location out of country makes it more difficult for Australian and U.S. authorities to monitor her whereabouts and travel plans," the cable added. The Herald report said Santos was one of six women — including four Australians and one British —whom the US State Department claimed to be "connected to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula." In the diplomatic cable, the entries for the six women stated, ''Recent threat information suggests [al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] is looking to identify a female for a future attack.'' Far from truth The Herald said the 23 people mentioned in the cable were part of a list of name "provided by ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organization) to the US State Department, which put them on its 'Visas Viper' program, a database for 'watch listing' suspected terrorists." However, the Herald said some of the persons mentioned in the diplomatic cable, including a well-known Sydney imam, "have rejected the claims and say they bear little relation to the truth." Sheikh Abdel Zoud, an imam at the Belmore mosque in Sydney, said he had no idea why he was named in the diplomatic cable. He was quoted in the report as saying, "This is fabricated news. Not correct at all. I have no connection with this man (al-Awlaqi).'' Zoud said he had never met al-Awlaqi or even visited his website. ''You can say anything but I challenge them to find any connection between him and me. People are innocent until you prove it,'' Zoud said in the report. The Herald said it "is not suggesting any of those on the no-fly list are involved in terrorist activity." It added: "The Herald has been told more than 100 people with links to Australia are on similar lists and are being monitored by US intelligence agencies and police in Australia." Wikileaks According to a report of Reuters on Friday last week, the WikiLeaks organization said it was releasing tens of thousands of previously unpublished US diplomatic cables, some of which are still classified. "We will have released over 100,000 US embassy cables from around the world by the end of today," said a message on WikiLeaks' Twitter feed. The Twitter page is believed to be controlled by Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' controversial Australian-born founder and chief. The cables which the website said it is dumping onto the public record appear to be from a cache of more than 250,000 State Department reports leaked to the group. WikiLeaks began releasing the cables in smaller batches late last year, but until now had made them public in piecemeal fashion. Several news organizations around the world, including Reuters, have had complete sets of the cables for months. - with a report from Reuters, Veronica Pulumbarit, GMA News