CANBERRA, 1 November 2004 — Prison authorities in New South Wales state are monitoring some inmates who have converted to Islam in jail, for fear they might try to plan terrorist attacks from behind bars, the state government said yesterday.

Several prisoners have been put under surveillance because they converted to Islam for “sinister and threatening” purposes, Justice Minister John Hatzistergos said, adding that some long-term inmates had shown “a sense of joy” at news of terror attacks. “There is no plot that we are aware of that any of these inmates have engaged in which threatens the security of the system ...or the broader community,” Hatzistergos told reporters.

Several prisoners are open about their support for Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, Ron Woodham, who oversees the New South Wales prison system, told The Sunday Telegraph.

“Prisoners convert to faith all the time, but our intelligence has revealed that up to six have taken on extreme views that are of great concern to authorities, particularly with recent events overseas where the prison system has been used as a recruiting ground by terrorist organizations,” Woodham was quoted as saying.

A foiled truck bomb attack on Spain’s National Court this month was allegedly plotted by a terrorist cell formed in prison.

“We’re watching every move they make and we are working with law enforcement agencies in other states to ensure that they are closely monitored,” Woodham said.

Hatzistergos said authorities have banned one Muslim cleric from visiting inmates in New South Wales prisons after they tried to recruit him as imam last year. He didn’t name the cleric nor explain why he was barred. Authorities intercept and copy mail, monitor phone calls and vet the visitors of those prisoners who are considered a high security risk, Woodham told the newspaper.

Woodham plans to ask his inter-state colleagues to allow prisoners who are deemed threats to national security to be transferred across state borders to break up potential terrorist cells.

New South Wales state opposition justice spokesman Andrew Humpherson said terrorist sympathizers among the state’s 8,500 prisoners should be refused parole.

“They should not be released back into society whilst there is a capacity for government to stop them through the parole board refusing their release,” he said.