Terrorist just wanted "MEDIA attention" well I guess we should apologise for the mistake and let him go then

Accused wanted media attention
By Kylie Williams
March 22, 2005
From: AAP
News.com.au

AN accused terrorist boasted of planning a suicide attack on a Commonwealth office only because he was depressed and wanted the media attention, a Sydney court heard today.
Zaky Mallah has pleaded not guilty in the New South Wales Supreme Court to planning a terrorist attack involving a rifle on the Sydney offices of either the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), or the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in late 2003.
He also pleaded not guilty to selling a video tape, typed statement and photographs of himself to an undercover police officer posing as a freelance journalist between November 28 and December 3 that year.
The Crown said Mr Mallah planned to kill himself and government officers in the attack.
But the 21-year-old's counsel Phillip Boulten, SC, said Mr Mallah never intended to kill anybody and boasted of planning the attack only to get media attention.
"He was not a ... terrorist waiting to jump," Mr Boulten said.
"He was a young dreamer, dreaming as it were of his moment in the spotlight."
Mr Boulten said Mr Mallah's parents died when he was a teenager, and he was depressed at the Government's refusal to give him a passport.
The refusal meant he could not go to Lebanon to meet his potential bride, or go on a pilgrimage to Mecca.
"He was receiving some relief from his depressed state from the buzz that the media was finding him attractive," Mr Boulten said.
Mr Boulten said his client was also angry that he and his lawyer were shut out of the court during an appeal of the government's decision at the Administrative Decisions Tribunal, while the Commonwealth gave its reasons for refusing him a passport.
"Mr Mallah was not told and never learnt the reason in detail why his passport was refused," Mr Boulten said.
The court was told earlier that phone calls made by Mr Mallah on his mobile and from his home also were recorded, prompting police to raid his Condell Park flat in south-western Sydney.
During the raid, police found a .22-calibre rifle and a written note in which Mr Mallah outlined his plans for the terrorist attack, the court was told.
They also found an application to become an ASIO agent, Mr Boulten said.
"One of the things that the police found when they raided his home in September was a job application ... to seek a job as an ASIO agent...," he said.
The trial continues tomorrow.

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