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TONY EASTLEY: Three Australians have been arrested over possible terrorist offences in the Middle East country of Yemen.
They're among a group of eight foreigners accused of smuggling weapons from Yemen across the Gulf of Aden to Islamic militias in Somalia.
The men are reported to have converted to Islam recently and Yemeni authorities say they're suspected of being linked to al-Qaeda.
The Department of Foreign Affairs says the three Australians are all from New South Wales and it's aware of their identities.
The Department was informed of their arrest two weeks ago but a spokesman says a Muslim holiday has so far prevented authorities gaining further information or access to the trio.
Middle East Correspondent David Hardaker reports.
DAVID HARDAKER: Little is known about the identity of the Australian passport holders.
An announcement on the Yemen Government's official website says three Australians are part of a group arrested two weeks ago for smuggling weapons to Somalia.
The others are listed as a Dane, a German, a Briton, another unspecified European and a Somali.
A Yemeni security source quoted by various news agencies says the Australian passport holders and the Dane were arrested in two flats in Yemen's capital, Sana'a, on suspicion of being affiliated to al-Qaeda.
He said the Australians and the Dane were ostensibly in Yemen to study Arabic.
Danish media said the suspect was a 23-year-old male who converted to Islam and moved to Yemen two months ago with his wife and child.
According to reports, the smuggled weapons were bound for Islamic militias who control the south of Somalia and who are fighting with the weak central government for control of the country.
Government sources in Yemen said the three Australians and the other foreigners had all converted to Islam earlier this year and had received religious instruction in Yemen.
Over the years, Yemen's been a popular destination for Muslims and Western converts who go there to study the Koran and/or to learn Arabic.
One of those was the 20-year-old American, John Walker Lindh, who was later arrested during the war in Afghanistan.
Australian officials based in neighbouring Saudi Arabia are attempting to gain access to the Australian passport holders by working with British consular officials in Yemen.
In 2007 the opposition Yemen Congregation for Reform (Islah) Islamic oriented Party maintained its having political and media sway over the Joint meeting Parties (JMP) block, also consisting of Yemen Socialist Party and the Nasserite Unionist Organisation.
Yemen is practically a cool green paradise, with crisp mountain air, enormous acacia trees, pristine coral reefs and verdant fields bursting with khat, a psychoactive plant that induces mild euphoria.
Sana'a: Yemen will not be able to combat terror without regional and international cooperation, said a Yemeni official, who warned of the ramifications of letting Yemen fight terrorism alone.
Doctors use the word “crisis” to describe the point at which a patient either starts to recover or dies. President George W. Bush’s Iraqi patient now seems to have reached that point. Most commentators appear to think that Bush’s latest prescription – a surge of 20,000 additional troops to suppress the militias in Baghdad – will, at best, merely postpone the inevitable death of his dream of a democratic Iraq. Yet as “Battle of Baghdad” begins, factors beyond Bush’s control and not of his making (at least not intentionally) may just save Iraq from its doom.
Australians accused of terrorist offences in Yemen
In 2007 the opposition Yemen Congregation for Reform (Islah) Islamic oriented Party maintained its having political and media sway over the Joint meeting Parties (JMP) block, also consisting of Yemen Socialist Party and the Nasserite Unionist Organisation. 
Yemen is practically a cool green paradise, with crisp mountain air, enormous acacia trees, pristine coral reefs and verdant fields bursting with khat, a psychoactive plant that induces mild euphoria. 
Sana'a: Yemen will not be able to combat terror without regional and international cooperation, said a Yemeni official, who warned of the ramifications of letting Yemen fight terrorism alone.
Many journalists covered the funeral of the murdered Minister, Pierre Gemayel, the latest victim in a string of political assassinations in Lebanon.
Doctors use the word “crisis” to describe the point at which a patient either starts to recover or dies. President George W. Bush’s Iraqi patient now seems to have reached that point. Most commentators appear to think that Bush’s latest prescription – a surge of 20,000 additional troops to suppress the militias in Baghdad – will, at best, merely postpone the inevitable death of his dream of a democratic Iraq. Yet as “Battle of Baghdad” begins, factors beyond Bush’s control and not of his making (at least not intentionally) may just save Iraq from its doom.