Australia - No holds barred in war of retribution against Ibrahim family

OFF THE WIRE
IT WAS a breathtaking act of defiance that signalled there are no longer any rules.
On January 13 this year, Kings Cross nightclub tsar John Ibrahim's elderly mother Wahiba was on the front porch of her Merrylands home in Sydney's western suburbs.
Also in the front yard were her bikie son Sam and the family's ever-present bodyguard, "Tongan Sam" Ngata.
The presence of a frail and sick Mrs Ibrahim should have been enough for the gunmen driving past to postpone their attack on Sam Ibrahim. But the rules have changed.
A series of shots rang out and Ibrahim fell to the ground, a bullet wound in each thigh.
The Ibrahims are a family under fire.
In the past 20 months, seven separate shootings have targeted both male and female members of the family and their associates.
Two Ibrahim brothers were shot, one almost fatally.
Even John Ibrahim's sisters are not immune, nor are his teenage relatives.
In an extensive investigation, The Daily Telegraph has canvassed the theories behind the shootings. Some involve alleged bikie and drug links. Domestic disputes are also mentioned.
Police familiar with the Ibrahim family fear the current wave of violence will end in only one way.
"These things never end well . . . it's coming to a head somehow," one officer said.
The first family member to be targeted in the recent wave of violence was Fadi Ibrahim, shot five times outside his Castle Cove home in 2009.
Police have identified the man they believe is behind the attack, but he has yet to be charged.
The second shooting occurred last November at the Ryde home of Armani Haddad, John Ibrahim's sister.
Her house was peppered with 25 bullets while she was at home with her children.
One police theory is that the attack is linked to a drive-by shooting at the home of her husband's brother and that both incidents could be domestic-related.
Sam Ibrahim, the family's eldest brother, was first on the scene to comfort his sister.
Sam himself was on the receiving end last month.
A long-time bikie, his alleged attempts to reform the Nomads Parramatta chapter by recruiting members of the Notorious gang is one theory behind his shooting.
Others believe the reason was more personal.
Ibrahim's camp has told police a jealous boyfriend of a woman besotted with Sam decided to sort the matter out with a couple of bullets.
Some younger members of the Ibrahim family also were targeted recently.
Hassan "Sam" Sayour - the 19-year-old nephew of the Ibrahim brothers - was shot on a street in Old Guildford last Sunday. Also injured was a cousin, Jihad Hamid, 23.
The shooting is believed to be the result of a dispute between two groups of young men. It could be linked to a drive-by shooting in western Sydney earlier the same day.
Two other shootings have targeted an Ibrahim family associate, Notorious Sergeant at Arms Saber Murad. In the first incident, last November, Murad was struck by two bullets at his Doonside home.
Police have charged two men, one a Comanchero, over that incident.
As the bullet holes add up, senior frontline police tasked with solving these crimes are becoming increasingly frustrated at the wall of silence surrounding the incidents.
Fadi and Sam Ibrahim and Armani Haddad have all declined to give statements to police about the crimes committed against them.
Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell said police deserve co-operation and respect.
"Given the recent escalation in gang-related crime, it's vital everyone, victims and witnesses alike, do everything possible to put the perpetrators behind bars," he said.
John Ibrahim has had his own trouble with some of the Comanchero. Some members have signalled their intentions by trashing one of Ibrahim's Kings Cross nightclubs three years ago and there has been an ongoing turf war in the area between factions of the Comanchero and Notorious, particularly over the lucrative security industry in the Cross.
When police asked a Comanchero member why John Ibrahim had been targeted, he replied: "It's time."
Ibrahim has a past littered with associations with bikies and underworld figures, including former King of the Cross Louis Bayeh.
He has been charged with murder and threatening witnesses in cases against two of his brothers but all charges were dismissed.
A law enforcement source said: "There have been attempts on John's life.
Some of the Comanchero are behind it." Ibrahim, however, seems unfazed and has refused offers of police protection, perhaps because he's confident with his own security detail. He goes nowhere without Tongan Sam, or a similar minder.
Police doubt all the shootings are an attempt to get to Ibrahim, who recently told friends he was planning to get out of "nightclub promoting" and turn his attention to property development.
Ibrahim' s solicitor Stephen Alexander said his client would make "no comment" on his family's travails.