They ignored his terror attack warnings

Roche8217;s case is a tale of intelligence failures that illustrates how poorly the West understood the threat posed by Islamic extremism. Australian and US authorities bungled at least six chances to learn what Roche knew, including the whereabouts of alleged terrorist mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who even then was said to be plotting the 9/11 attacks. US authorities had been on Mohammed8217;s trail since the mid-1990s. 8216;8216;He had their phone numbers,8217;8217; said Hylton Quail, Roche8217;s lawyer. 8216;8216;He had their e-mail addresses. He knew where they lived. He knew how they worked. He was like a spy who tried to come in from the cold and found the door locked.8217;8217;

Roche, 50, says he first telephoned the US Embassy in Canberra to offer intelligence on Al Qaeda and was told to contact Australian authorities. An Embassy official says Roche may have called, but the embassy has no record of it. Roche then called the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation three times to give information, but the agency never pursued his offer. PM John Howard acknowledged last week that authorities had made a 8216;8216;serious mistake8217;8217; in turning Roche away.

Authorities said when they finally questioned Roche after the Bali bombing, they were surprised that he gave them so much useful information. 8216;8216;Basically, he was putting a noose around his own neck by participating in those long interviews,8217;8217; agent Michael Duthie said outside the court.

Bin Laden8217;s organisation was interested in Roche as he did not come from an Islamic country, and it would have been easier for him to plot attacks in Western countries. Roche, who joined Jemaah Islamiah in 1996, travelled to Afghanistan in 2000, believing he would fight on the side of the Taliban against the Northern Alliance. Instead, he found himself meeting with a who8217;s who of Al Qaeda leaders.

At a camp outside Kandahar, he had lunch with bin Laden. He took a 10-day explosives course and discussed possible Australian bombing and assassination targets with Mohammed Atef, then Al Qaeda8217;s second-in-command, and Saif Adel, Al Qaeda8217;s top military commander.

In Pakistan, Roche says he met Khalid Sheikh Mohammed twice. Mohammed was wanted by US authorities since 1996 for his alleged role in terrorist attacks, including a foiled plot to hijack a dozen US airliners in Asia and blow them up.

Roche feared that Al Qaeda would kill him if he tried to back out, so he said he decided to make it look as though he was following the terrorists8217; orders while quietly informing on them. In June 2000, he travelled to Canberra with his 24-year-old son and a friend and videotaped the Israeli Embassy. Security guard Jeffrey Harrison challenged Roche and in a conversation captured on video, Roche explained that he was interested in Canberra8217;s architecture. 8216;8216;Is that what it is?8217;8217; Harrison said. 8216;8216;I didn8217;t think you were going to bomb the joint or anything.8217;8217; 8216;8216;Oh no,8217;8217; Roche said. Harrison noted the incident in his logbook, but no one questioned the three men.

On October 30, tipped off by members of the Islamic community, police raided Roche8217;s home. They had learned his name from others in the Muslim community and did not know he had once offered information. Roche spoke freely with police for nine hours. Videotapes show that the investigators didn8217;t know the names of many of the key players in the terrorist networks and needed Roche8217;s help to spell them.

Roche was jailed for 18 months before going on trial May 17 on charges of conspiring with Mohammed, Atef and Adel to blow up the Israeli Embassy. His statements to police were the main evidence against him. Two weeks into the trial, he changed his plea to guilty and was sentenced to nine years. 8212; LAT-WP