MELBOURNE, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- A terror suspect rejoiced on hearing about the July 7 London Tube bombings, an Australian court was told.
Accused terror suspect Abdul Nacer Benbrika, the so-called spiritual leader of the alleged Melbourne terror cell, celebrated on hearing news of the London bombings, telling associates that it was what "Osama bin Laden has been waiting for."
The four suicide bomber attacks killed 52 people as well as the bombers, and injured more than 700.
Benbrika was recorded on a police listening device praising the July attacks, allegedly saying they were "the best" and that "we'll get the enemy," The Australian newspaper reported Thursday.
Transcripts of the recordings were read out in Melbourne Magistrates' Court yesterday during a bail application for Benbrika's co-accused, Shane Kent, 28, and Amer Haddara, 26.
The court heard the men had visited Benbrika, a 46-year-old self-styled Muslim cleric and leader of the alleged terror cell, several times between July 2004 and November 2005.
Prosecutor Nick Robinson said that according to police transcripts, on one occasion Kent, a father of three, had expressed his frustration to Benbrika that Australian authorities were preventing the group from fighting for Islam.
