Concern as Sydney Opera House appears on jihad site
The landmark building is featured in the latest edition of ''Inspire'', an English-language site dealing with bomb-making and terrorism, reportedly run by associates of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a militant Islamist group.
"Its aim is to literally inspire the lone wolf attack, in Australia and any other countries for that matter, it is circulated internationally," Attorney-General Robert McClelland told reporters.
"It is trying to equip usually disgruntled young men with the skills they need to develop weapons of destruction how to construct a bomb, how to use weapons... to actually undertake an act of violence."
McClelland said it was the "first time an Australian icon has been used in one of these publications" and it was "obviously a concern" but that he had been advised there was no direct threat and no need to raise the terror level.
Australia's terror alert level has stood at "medium", meaning an extremist attack could occur since 2001.
"It was presented as a photo image. There was no other content referencing it as a target or otherwise," McClelland said.
"The only way that (alert level) would be elevated is if our agencies received intelligence of a likely attack and that is not the case."
Though it underscored that "the threat of terrorism is real in Australia" McClelland said previous planned attacks had been detected and disrupted before they came to fruition, with 38 people charged and 23 convictions.
