Australia warned over terror cells

CNN reports.

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Up to 60 Islamic extremists are actively involved in terrorist cells in Australia, the federal police commissioner confirmed Wednesday after a former spymaster claimed it was only a matter of time before an attack was launched on Australian soil.

Michael Roach, a senior official who recently retired from the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, or ASIO, said Australia was facing an imminent risk of a terrorist attack, and called for more extreme counterterrorism powers.

Sound familiar? Britain's police made the same prediction over a year before London's Muslim terrorist attacks.

Mick Keelty, the commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, or AFP, confirmed Roach's allegations about the number of suspected terrorists operating in Australia, saying the figures were "not news to the intelligence community."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------