Pak-born man guilty in Sydney 'jihad' plot

Faheem Khalid Lodhi, 36, had been been accused of planning to blow up the electrical grid in the city of Sydney as well as several defence sites in 2003.

A jury at the city's Supreme Court rejected his claim that he was planning for future business ventures when he used a false name to buy maps of the Sydney grid and inquire about purchasing chemicals.

The indictment said Lodhi, who denied four counts of preparing to commit a terrorist act, had "the intent of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause, namely violent jihad."

Prosecutors have linked Lodhi, also known as Abu Hamza, to Frenchman Willie Brigitte, who was deported in late 2003 and has been accused in a leaked French intelligence dossier of planning a terrorist attack "of great size".

Both Lodhi and Brigitte are alleged to have trained with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant Pakistani group that Australia has banned as a terrorist organisation.

Lodhi was found guilty on three counts, including writing what the prosecution described as a "terrorism manual." He was acquitted on the fourth charge of downloading aerial photographs of defence sites for a purpose connected with terrorism.

Lodhi showed no emotion as the jury of six men and six women delivered their verdicts on the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Judge Anthony Whealy remanded Lodhi in custody to face sentencing submissions on June 29.

If sentenced to life, how long Lodhi would spend in prison before being eligible for parole would be at the discretion of the judge.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock welcomed the conviction but declined to speculate on how close Australia had come to a terrorist attack.

"I don't know that it's appropriate for me to try and make deductions as to how far off or when such an event might have occurred," he told reporters.

Australia has not faced a terror attack on its own turf but Australian interests have been targeted elsewhere.

In Indonesia, the Australian embassy was attacked in 2004 and scores of Australian holidaymakers were killed in bomb blasts on the resort island of Bali in 2002 and 2005.

After more than 50 people were killed in attacks in London last July, Prime Minister John Howard pushed tough new anti-terror legislation through parliament, saying he was afraid the same thing could happen in Australia.

In November, 18 Muslim men were arrested in raids in Sydney and Melbourne that police said had foiled a "large-scale terrorist attack". They are in custody awaiting trial.