Police reopen probe into 1982 bombings

26 Aug 2012, 8:35 pm   -   Source: AAP

NSW and federal police have reopened an investigation into two unsolved terrorist attacks that occurred in Sydney nearly 30 years ago.

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The terrorists responsible for two bombings in Sydney almost 30 years ago could still be in the city and be part of a sleeper cell, police have warned.

The revelation came after NSW and Australian Federal Police counter-terrorism officers reopened investigations into the bombings of the Israeli consulate in the city and the Hakoah Club in Bondi in 1982.

"Yes we do," NSW Police counter terrorism commander, Assistant Commissioner Peter Dein, told reporters on Sunday when asked if he believed the terrorists were still living in Sydney or other parts of Australia.

"We have a number of persons of interest and a number of people out there who we believe also know who was responsible."

Asked about a possible sleeper cell, he said "there is potential for that type of person to be out there".

"That always concerns me," Mr Dein said.

The renewed investigation, named Operation Forbearance, was sparked by a "range of inquiries" at home and abroad, police say.

They appealed for information from the public to help solve the cold case and released images of two men they believe were involved in the bombings.

Mr Dein told reporters it was lucky no one was killed in the bombings, which could have had "catastrophic results".

Advances in investigative technologies and procedures had prompted the reopening of the case, he said.

Several people of interest, both in Sydney and overseas, had been questioned in recent months and police believed other people living in Sydney knew who the bombers were, Mr Dein said.

"There's a number of people out there that we believe know who was responsible for this particular crime."

Mr Dein said he hoped renewed publicity about the case, "together with a sense of what's right", would bring those people forward.

"We're hoping that the passage of time in the last 30 years will help their conscience, so to speak, and compel them to come forward."

The bombing at the Israeli consulate office in William Street on December 23, 1982, badly damaged the building and left two people injured, one seriously.

Later that day, a bomb went off in a car parked at the packed Hakoah Club, a Jewish soccer and social venue in Bondi.

It is believed that explosion was designed to collapse the building and kill or injure the many people inside. However, the device failed to detonate properly and no one was injured.

At the time, the attacks were linked to an international pro-Palestine terrorist organisation known as May 15.

A 31-year-old man arrested and charged over the Bondi bombing went to court, but the charges were later withdrawn by the NSW attorney-general.

On Sunday, Mr Dein declined to say if that man remained a person of interest.

He also refused to say if police had interviewed convicted terrorist bomber Mohammed Rashed, now in jail in the US, over the Sydney bombings.

The identikit pictures released on Sunday were made 30 years ago from descriptions of two men who bought the Valiant car used in the club bombing.

Police have urged people with any information on the bombings to contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.

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