Australian Muslims convicted on terrorism charge (Roundup)

Sep 15, 2008, 6:40 GMT

Sydney - Six Australian Muslims on Monday found guilty of forming a terrorist cell face possible life terms.

Four of the group of 12 Melbourne men were declared innocent and two have yet to receive a verdict on the charges against them.

During the six-month trial, the jury heard 50 witnesses and listened to excerpts from 482 secretly recorded conversations among men who declared they wanted to 'do something' to honour their religion.

The group watched videos of beheadings in Iraq and read books glorifying the hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Centre in New York.

Algerian-born cleric Abdul Nacer Benbrika, the leader of the group, told his followers it was 'permissible to kill women, children and the aged.'

Police alleged that 48-year-old Benbrika and his acolytes planned to bomb the 100,000 spectators at the 2005 rugby final in Melbourne.

'There are men in the dock who look different, talk differently and say things that are not exactly flavour of the month,' a defence lawyer told the jury before it spent four weeks deliberating.

'In this case, all of us must confront our prejudices and attempt honestly and vigorously to dispel them from our minds.'

Remy Van de Wiel, Benbrika's lawyer, praised the impartiality of the jury.

'It's so wonderful to live in a democracy where a jury obviously pays this level of attention to matters like this and works this hard,' he told reporters outside the court.

There has been no date set for sentencing.