I.S. BEHIND FOILED MEAT MINCER BOMB PLOT

Aussie man sent unsuspecting sibling to airport with homemade bomb

SYDNEY

AN Australian man sent his unsuspecting brother to the Sydney airport to catch an Etihad Airways flight carrying a homemade bomb, disguised as a meat mincer, built at the direction of a senior Islamic State commander, police said yesterday.

Detailing one of Australia’s worst-known militant plots, police said two men, who had 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 IS, Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner National Security Michael Phelan said.

He said the plot targeted an Etihad Airways flight on July 15, but 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 alleged that one of the two men charged on Thursday had been introduced to IS by his brother, who they said was a senior member of the group in Syria.

Communication between the accused man and IS began around April. Under the instruction of the unidentified IS 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.

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 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 yesterday said it had been working closely with the Australian Federal Police investigation. Reuters