From News.com.au, :
FRENCH anti-terrorist prosecutor Jean-Louis Bruguiere claims a mystery man in Australia was connected to the “millennium bombing plot” to blow up Los Angeles airport in 2000.
Judge Bruguiere said telephone intercepts had linked a suspect in Sydney to Algerian Ahmed Ressam, who was arrested in December 1999 in Canada before he could cross the US border in a vehicle with explosives, large amounts of money and fake identities.
He said the Sydney man was identified during an extensive international sting operation involving his office. The information was passed on to Australian authorities by the French counter-terrorism branch, the DST.
But the claim has puzzled local law enforcement officials. The Australian Federal Police refused to comment last night and NSW police said they had not previously heard of any Australian link.
DST liaises with ASIO, which is understood to have dealt with the referral without involving police.
The millennium plot was considered one of the most serious efforts to be foiled by authorities since al-Qa’ida emerged as a global terror menace in the early 1990s.
US courts have been told it was planned by the al-Qaeda hierarchy to cause massive symbolic damage at the turn of the millennium.