http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17605825-2,00.htmlFive white supremacists have been arrested carrying material to build petrol bombs, enabling police to claim they were vindicated after locking down more than 200km of beaches to prevent a repeat of Sydney’s ugly race riots.
The men, dressed in camouflage gear, were caught yesterday in the southern suburb of Brighton-le-Sands carrying equipment to make Molotov cocktails including 25l jerry cans filled with petrol, as well as commando-style utility belts and Kevlar helmets. The lockdown occurred on a perfect summer weekend when many Sydneysiders were winding down ahead of Christmas and forced Premier Morris Iemma to deny the gangs had won the battle. Police officers also found car stickers promoting the white supremacist movement in the men’s car. Two other men, travelling by bus to Sydney’s Bondi Beach, were arrested carrying petrol bombs, and in a separate incident in Brighton-le-Sands five men of Middle Eastern appearance were arrested for carrying offensive weapons. “There is still a lot of work to be done but so far the police have done an outstanding job,” Mr Iemma said. “We have to remain vigilant from here on in. This is not going to be a one-day fight. We’re in for a long, hard fight. The streets are going to be safe for all peace-loving citizens.” Sydney’s western suburbs remained quiet yesterday after a call for a full day’s curfew by Lebanese community leaders. Mohammed Elriche, 19, said he and his friends would have enjoyed nothing more than their regular swim at Cronulla Beach but their parents had asked him to stay at home. His parents, Eddy and Samira, who have lived in Australia since 1972, said their five children would be allowed to go to the beach again only when the “conflict is resolved and peace is restored” in the Sutherland shire region. “If there’s no more conflict, I will let him (Mohammed) go,” Samira, 42, told The Australian in Arabic. Mohammed, a second-year design student, said it was part of his Muslim culture to obey his mother. “In our (Muslim) religion, it says you’ve got to like your mum three times as much as your father … and because of that, you’ve got to give them more respect.” “So if they tell you not to go somewhere or do something you must listen to them out of respect.” He said last week’s retaliation by some young members of his community for the rioting and assaults at Cronulla beach was the work of hotheads who should have let the police resolve the situation. “It was hot-headed guys who retaliated last week,” said Mohammed, whose cousin and friends had considered driving down to Cronulla to join in the retaliation, but changed their mind once their parents told them to steer clear of the troubled area. While the city stayed relatively calm, Deputy Commissioner Andrew Scipione yesterday said a force of 800 additional police would be available every day until the end of January. Mr Scipione said he was concerned after dangerous weapons were seized at police roadblocks. NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney said concerns that there had been a call to arms in other states appeared justified with one of the men arrested at Bondi coming from Melbourne, and three men arrested with offensive weapons in Brighton came from Canberra. After the Brighton-le-Sands arrests police locked down the suburb using new powers passed by Parliament last week. Mr Moroney said charges would be laid against all seven men in relation to possession of offensive weapons and all would be refused bail under the provisions of the new anti-riot laws. Mr Moroney said that since last Monday, 193 charges had been laid in relation to the anti-riot operation Seta. Since Friday, police deployed in the operation had arrested 59 people and laid more than 100 charges. “It has clearly been a weekend like no other in the history of policing in this state,” Mr Moroney said. Reporting the arrests at Brighton-le-Sands, Mr Scipione said: “This just shows that what we’re dealing with was perhaps this type of opportunity for those who would commit crime – not just in Cronulla but in a number of areas.”