At the time Izhar ul-Haque is accused of having interrupted his medical studies in Sydney to enrol in a terrorist training camp in Pakistan, there was no law against it.
But there is now, and a Federal Government source has admitted prosecution of the 21-year-old could be more difficult because ul-Haque is alleged to have trained with the group Lashkar-e-Toiba before it was banned.
Ul-Haque might have gone unnoticed had he not kept a diary, whose existence is revealed in court documents.
The diary, which ASIO says was found during a search, recorded the thoughts and ideals of a young man in military boot camp, according to documents tendered in Central Local Court by officers from the Federal-NSW Police Joint Counter Terrorism Task Force.
The journal allegedly detailed training in long and short firearms, the handling and detonation of explosives, but made no reference to training in how to construct home-made bombs from domestic chemicals.
It also detailed daily religious studies during breaks in military training and ul-Haque’s devotion to Islam and his commitment to the liberation of Kashmir from India, which police allege was the motivating factor for him undertaking the training.
