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 SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Two Islamic terrorist cells were competing to become the first to stage a major bombing in Australia, a prosecutor said Tuesday after police arrested 17 suspects in a series of coordinated pre-dawn raids in two cities.
About 500 police arrested nine men in the southern city of Melbourne and eight in Sydney, including one man critically injured in a gunfight with police.
Police said they expected more arrests in coming days and weeks, but Prime Minister John Howard on Wednesday assured Muslims they were not being targeted.
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