Australian terrorist threat to airports

A group of Australians who are believed to be at terrorist training camps in Yemen pose a threat to airport security, a security expert has warned. 22 Australians have gone missing in Yemen and are believed to be at al-Qaeda training camps. Heading up the al-Qaeda regime in Yemen is an American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki who the ABC reported has been dubbed the Osama bin Laden of the internet. Al-Awlaki has been allegedly involved in a number of terrorist attacks and in his internet sermons - delivered in perfect English - he preaches contempt for non-believers.

The 22 Australians are believed to be receiving training at these camps where their value is their Australian passports and the access they can gain with them. "The authorities know who these people are," Homeland Security Asia Pacific director Roger Hennings told AAP. "The government of Australia is aware of the identity of 22 Australians who went missing about four months ago, in other words they just got to Yemen and disappeared," he said. "This constitutes a national security risk because all of these people left through Australian airports and when they return they will return through Australian airports."

Mr Hennings said these Australians were believed to be in al-Qaeda training camps in Yemen and there was nothing to stop them communicating with sympathisers in Australia. According to Mr Hennings, 66 Australian citizens and residents have already been trained by al-Qaeda or in Pakistan by other terrorist organisations.Major airports are areas of mass gathering which Mr Hennings says are critical to the security of the country. Yet the majority of people working in airports don't understand how security threat levels work and Mr Hennings says there is a daily threat level to Australia's airports.