Australian 'targeted by al-Qaeda'

By Dominic Hughes BBC correspondent in Sydney

Gutnick is a supporter of Israeli settlements in the West Bank

An Australian Jewish businessman is claiming that he was warned by police of an al-Qaeda plot to assassinate him.

Joseph Gutnick said the plot was uncovered during police raids last year.

The Australian federal police have refused to comment.

Mr Gutnick, a Melbourne-based businessman who made his fortune through mining interests, says the plot to assassinate him centred on plans to bomb his home, the synagogue where he worships or his company offices in Melbourne.

He says the Australian federal police told him in December of last year that they believed the plot had been sanctioned by al-Qaeda, but he has been assured that he is no longer under threat.

The plot was allegedly uncovered during raids on houses in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Perth last year.

Settlement backer

Mr Gutnick, an Orthodox Jew, is an outspoken financial backer of Israeli settlements.

The police say that while Mr Gutnick has chosen go public with his information, for legal reasons, they are unable to comment at this stage.

While Mr Gutnick's claims sound extraordinary, the prime minister, John Howard, has also spoken of unspecified al-Qaeda targets within Australia.

Last week, Mr Howard told parliament that new intelligence reports had recently surfaced, showing that al-Qaeda had been actively seeking targets in Australia in 2000 and 2001, long before the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States.