From: "saeed urrehman" <saeed.urrehman-AT-anu.edu.au>
Subject: still more: how racism operates
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2002 20:12:34 +1100


i think this stuff deserves its own "clash of civilizations" theory.

saeed
_______

Carr calls on public to catch the arsonists
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0112/31/national/national7.html


By Ellen Connolly and Daniel Lewis

The Premier, Bob Carr, has called on the people of NSW to join in the hunt
for the arsonists suspected of starting bushfires.

He said information, no matter how small, was vital in bringing the
perpetrators to justice, and that people should not hesitate to phone
Crimestoppers.

"People have bits and pieces of this enormous investigative jigsaw ... and
we call on them to help," he said yesterday.

Mr Carr's comments came as arsonists were blamed for five fires which
erupted around the Cataract water catchment area around Appin, and the
number of arrests for fire-raising rose
to eight.

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The outbreaks at Appin forced police to close Appin Road, and to evacuate a
colliery. No houses were threatened.

Mr Carr said those responsible for the fires should be sentenced to a
lengthy jail term.

"I don't rule out increasing the penalties," he said. "The point is to get
them arrested, and where they are adults, put away behind bars for a long
time."

In Armidale Local Court yesterday, Lachlan Raymond Vale, 22, was the latest
to be charged with arson, after firefighters allegedly saw him lighting
three fires on land next to the Armidale Mission on Saturday.

He was also charged with two counts of assaulting police.

Vale was remanded in custody until his next court appearance on Friday.

Mr Carr said the taskforce investigating the fires, Strike Force Tronto, was
working to build the psychological profile of an arsonist "to understand the
mind and psyche" of those responsible for last week's fires.

"It's an enormous, painstaking task of gathering evidence and information
from the expertise of the rural fire service and the fire brigade," he said.

Despite facing a "long and protracted investigation", police would catch the
offenders, he said.

In the Blue Mountains, Strike Force Tronto began its work of investigating
fires in the area.

Three task force members arrived on Friday in Valley Heights, where a man
was seen deliberately lighting a fire on Christmas Day.

That fire, and others started near Springwood and Valley Heights, went on to
damage dozens of properties north of the Great Western Highway.

Firefighters believe an arsonist has been active in the Lower Blue Mountains
for the past two years, starting more than 30 fires.

Mr Carr, on his visit to the Blue Mountains at the weekend, said he had been
told by residents that someone had been lighting fires in the area.

Police said the man seen lighting the fire at Valley Heights was in his 50s,
with receding grey hair and wearing glasses, and drove a dented blue Ford
Falcon.

Severe penalties are in place for anyone lighting a fire during a total fire
ban, which continues in NSW today. Offenders could be sentenced to maximum
penalties of $110,000 fine and/or five years in prison.

The smallest campfire for a cup of tea could result in a "hefty penalty",
the NSW deputy Police Commissioner, Ken Maroney, said.

"People should remember that a total fire ban means just that," he said.
"Even if the fire causes no harm, it can result in a large on-the-spot
fine."

Anyone identified as delib-erately starting a fire would be subject to
criminal investigation and prosecution, with penalties on conviction of up
to 14 years in prison.



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