A senior Islamic State commander directed a
group of Australian men to build a bomb
destined for an Etihad Airways flight out of
Sydney, police said on Friday.
Recall that Australian Police carried out
counter-terrorism raids in four suburbs of
Sydney on Saturday, July 29, over a
suspected bomb plot to bring down an
aircraft. Four men were taken into custody
in what was described as a “major”
operation by the New South Wales Joint
Counter Terrorism Team. See previous
report: here
Speaking at a news conference today,
Australian Federal Police Deputy
Commissioner National Security Michael
Phelan said one of the men had sent his
unsuspecting brother to Sydney airport to
catch the flight carrying a home-made bomb
disguised as a meat mincer built at the
direction of the commander.
Police said two men who have been
charged with terror-related offences also
planned to build a device to release
poisonous gas in a public area.
High-grade military explosives used to build
the bomb were sent by air cargo from
Turkey as part of a sophisticated plot
inspired and directed by the militant Islamic
State group, Phelan said.
He said the plot targeted an Etihad Airways
flight on July 15 but that the bomb never
made it past airport security.
“This is one of the most sophisticated plots
that has ever been attempted on Australian
soil,” Phelan said.
Police allege that one of the two men
charged late on Thursday had been
introduced to Islamic State by his brother,
who they said was a senior member of the
group in Syria.
Communication between the accused man
and Islamic State began around April. Under
the instruction of the unidentified Islamic
State commander, the men built a “fully
functioning IED” (improvised explosive
device).
One of the arrested men’s brother was
unaware that he was carrying a bomb,
disguised as a commercial meat mincer, in
his luggage, and tried to check it in at the
airport, police said.
“We’ll be alleging that the person who was
to carry the IED on the plane had no idea
they were going to be carrying an IED,”
Phelan said.
“This is one of the most sophisticated plots
that has ever been attempted on Australian
soil”
There was “a little bit of conjecture” about
what happened next, he said, but it
appeared one of the accused then left the
airport, taking the luggage with him. The
man’s brother boarded the plane and has
not since returned to Australia.
“I want to make it quite clear — it never got
near screening. I don’t want anyone to
suggest that it … penetrated airport security
layers … because it did not. It didn’t go
anywhere near it,” Phelan said.
Etihad said in a statement on Friday it had
been working closely with the Australian
Federal Police investigation.
Police arrested four men last weekend in
raids across Sydney, Australia’s biggest city.
One man has been released, while another
is still being held without charge under
special counter-terror laws.
Domestic media have identified the two men
who have been charged as Khaled Khayat
and Mahmoud Khayat, who each face two
counts of planning a terrorist act. The
charges carry a maximum punishment of life
in prison.
Police search for evidence at a block of
apartment on Sunday in the Sydney suburb
of Lakemba, after counter-terrorism raids
across the city on the weekend.
The men did not apply for bail at a court
hearing on Friday, a spokeswoman for New
South Wales Courts said, and bail was
formally denied.
Their next scheduled court appearance is on
Nov. 14. U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters
on condition of anonymity, said this week a
foreign intelligence service had intercepted
communications between the plotters in
Sydney and Islamic State members in Syria.
The officials declined to identify the foreign
intelligence service. Another U.S. official said
the flight was bound for the Gulf.
Police also said they had uncovered the early
stages of a plot to build an “improvised
chemical dispersion device” designed to
release hydrogen sulphide gas. Precursor
chemicals and other components were
found but the accused were “a long way”
from making a functioning device.
Foul-smelling hydrogen sulphide, or “rotten
egg gas,” is deadly in high concentrations.
Police said preliminary and hypothetical
discussions between the accused and
Islamic State suggested a plan to deploy it in
a crowded place, such as public transport.
