Barbie bomb backup claims

A “BARBIE doll bomb’’ was to be a backup plan to blow up a Emirates plane 20 minutes after take off from Sydney Airport during an alleged planned terror plot, Lebanese authorities claimed yesterday.

The new detail comes two weeks after Australian Federal Police said they had uncovered a terror plot involving a number of men related to each other in Sydney who were going to use a bomb disguised as a meat grinder.

Earlier this month, police arrested four men and charged Mahmoud Khayat, 32, and his brother Khaled, 49, with terrorism offences alleging they were working with another brother, Tarek, a senior member of Islamic State directing them from Syria who has not been charged.

Khaled Merhi, 39, was charged with weapons offences after police found a homemade taser at his Surry Hills unit, while his brother Abdul, 50, was released without charge.

The Lebanese Interior Minister, Nohad Machnouk, said Tareq Khayat moved to the IS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria and became a commander in the jihadist group more than a year ago.

He said Lebanon’s Internal Security Force then placed the trio and a fourth brother Amer Khayat, under surveillance, and added that Amer was supposed to be aboard the plane, working to bring it down 20 minutes after takeoff, but was arrested in Lebanon after he arrived in mid- July from Australia. Mr Machnouk didn’t say if he was still in custody.

Police sources said it was believed Amer was to be a sac- rificial lamb who was unaware he had a bomb in his luggage which is at odds with Mr Machnouk’s comments.

Mr Machnouk said the bombs, hidden in the doll and the grinder, did not make it on to the plane because the handbag they were placed in was 7kg above the weight permitted by the airline.

Australian authorities have not mentioned a second bomb involving a Barbie doll in any of the allegations made against the men charged although they said there was another plan in its early stages to release a toxic gas in a public place in Sydney.

The AFP and the Government are not elaborating on the claims by Mr Machnouk.

“We are aware of the comments made overnight by the Lebanese Interior Minister,’’ a Federal Police statement said.

“We have a close and co- operative relationship with the Lebanese authorities and are working closely on this investigation.’’

Federal Transport Minister Darren Chester wouldn’t comment on the Lebanese role. “It’s a team effort in the sense that we do need to share information, because the threat of terrorism crosses international boundaries,” he said.

Mr Machnouk said the operation “probably” would have been successful if the luggage had not exceeded the weight limit. The AFP said after it uncovered the alleged plot it made mock meat grinders and tested airport security across the country which detected them each time.

Mr Machnouk added information offered by Lebanese intelligence had “assisted in foiling a large operation aiming to blow up a plane”.