Jack Roche
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Jack Roche is an Australian convicted on a charge of conspiring to commit an offence provided for by the Crimes (Internationally Protected Persons) Act 1976, namely intent to endanger the lives of Israeli diplomats in Canberra (Australia's capital). A Muslim convert, Roche was convicted of conspiring to bomb the Israeli embassy in Canberra in 2000. The plan was never carried out. In June 2004, he was sentenced to nine years in prison effective from 18 November 2002 when he was arrested. A non-parole period of 4 1/2 years was fixed, meaning that he could be released in May 2007.
He had faced a maximum sentence of 25 years.
[edit] Early life
He was born as Paul George Holland in 1953, in the English town of Hull. He then moved to Australia in 1978. In 1992, he converted to Islam, claiming that he did it in an effort to curb a drinking problem. At a Sydney mosque, he met the head of the terrorist group called Jemaah Islamiyah, an arm of al-Qaeda in Southeast Asia, and pledged his allegiance to the group. He then travelled to Indonesia to learn more about Islam, where he met his third, and current, wife.
In 2000, Roche travelled to Afghanistan, where he met with al-Qaeda leaders, such as Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and ultimately Osama bin Laden. After that, he received training in terrorist techniques. He was then instructed to set up a terror cell in Australia and to target Israeli interests in the country, including the plot to bomb the Israeli embassy. Roche admits to having taken part in the plot, but said he did not plan to carry it out. He admitted to carrying out surveillance on Australian targets, but was unsuccessful in bringing in new recruits for the cell. According to Roche, Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, whom Roche named as the head of Jemaah Islamiyah, called him and ordered him to cancel the plan. Ba'asyir, who is in custody in Indonesia, and who is thought to be linked to terrorist organizations, denies the connection with Jemaah Islamiyah.
[edit] External links
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