Police reveal suspects made two plots
AUSTRALIA: An Islamic State commander sent components to Sydney to build an improvised explosive device that was to be taken on an Etihad flight, police allege.
Details of the Sydney-based terror plot, that was foiled by police last Saturday, have been revealed including the alleged aborted plan to take the IED on the flight out of Sydney Airport on July 15.
A second plot allegedly related to the building of an improvised chemical dispersion device to release colourless toxic gas in a crowded space, possibly on public transport.
‘‘This is one of the most sophis- ticated plots that has ever been attempted on Australian soil,’’ Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan said yesterday.
On Thursday night, the Australian Federal Police charged Mahmoud Khayat, 32, and Khaled Mahmoud Khayat, 49, each with two counts of acting in preparation for or planning a terrorist act.
Both men appeared in the Parramatta Court yesterday morning.
The maximum penalty each could face is life imprisonment.
Phelan said there was ‘‘conjecture’’ as to why the IED was not placed on the flight on July 15, but said at no stage did the device make its way into the secure section of the airport.
‘‘At no stage did the IED breach security,’’ he said.
‘‘The IED was sent through international cargo. With assistance from the ISIL commander, the accused assembled the IED - so the components of the IED, into what we believe was a functioning IED to be placed on that flight.’’
The second plot, relating to the improvised chemical dispersion, allegedly involved taking a device to a ‘‘crowded closed space’’.
‘‘One of the things we will be alleging, though, that there were some, I must preface this by saying very preliminary and hypothetical, information put forward by the controller overseas to one of the people that’s been charged about the types of places that you might want to put a chemical dispersion device,’’ Phelan said.
‘‘They were talking about crowded closed spaces, you know, potentially public transport, and so on.’’
Police, however, said the plans for the chemical dispersion device were a ‘‘long way from being functional’’.
‘‘This hydrogen sulphide is very difficult to make so I want to make it quite clear that whilst it may have been a hypothetical plot for these people to put forward, we were a long way from having a functional device.’’
Police would not divulge who the Islamic State commander was who sent the explosives to Sydney only to say he was ‘‘not Australian’’ and was ‘‘not related to any of the targets’’.
Phelan said it was a ‘‘concern’’ that Islamic State had been able to send the components to Australia from Turkey but said extra measures have now been put in place to screen cargo.
Police will allege that the men in Sydney had been speaking with the Islamic State commander since April. - Fairfax