Police charge Australian after ‘ IS- inspired’ plane plot raids

An Australian man who was detained during raids to disrupt what authorities described as an Islamic State- inspired plot to bomb an Etihad Airways flight has been charged with weapons offences and released on bail, police said on Sunday.

The man was one of four detained during raids by counterterrorism police in suburbs in Sydney, Australia’s largest city, a week ago.

Two of the men were charged with terror- related offences late on Thursday. Police allege one of them sent his unsuspecting brother to catch an Etihad Airways flight from Sydney on July 15 carrying a home- made bomb, which was disguised as a meat mincer, built at the direction of a senior commander in the militant Islamic State group.

The fourth man was released without charge after the raids.

On Sunday, police said a 39- year- old man, who had been held under special counterterror laws, had been charged with possessing a prohibited weapon. He was released on bail to appear in court later this month.

The man was identified by his lawyer as Khaled Merhi.

On Friday, police detailed what they called one of Australia’s “most sophisticated” militant plots and said the two men who had been charged with terror offences had also planned to build a device to release poisonous gas in a public area.

Both those men have been charged with two counts of planning a terrorist act. The charges carry a maximum punishment of life in prison. Neither applied for bail and they are scheduled to appear in court again on November 14.