Jihadist terror pair ‘planted bomb in their brother’s case’

TWO suspected Isil jihadists attempted to smuggle a homemade bomb on to an Etihad plane by planting it on their brother in what has been described as the “most sophisticated” terror plot in Australia, police have said.

The pair are also accused of hatching a plan to disperse toxic chemicals in a “crowded closed space”.

The first plan was to plant a bomb disguised as a commercial meat mincer in a brother’s luggage.

However, the bag never made it through security and was not checked in, possibly because it was too heavy.

“We will be alleging the person who was to carry the IED on the plane had no idea they were going to be carrying an IED,” Michael Phelan, the deputy commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, said yesterday.

Police allege the unidentified passenger was accompanied by his brother, 49-year-old Khaled Mahmoud Khayat. On Thursday, Mr Khayat was charged with two counts of acting in preparation for or planning a terrorist act.

Describing the plan as “one of the most sophisticated plots that has ever been attempted on Australian soil”, police alleged they had uncovered a plan to construct a bomb – following instructions from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) – and place it in the baggage of an unknowing passenger on a July 15 flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi.

But the suspected plot was aborted for reasons that remain unclear.

Police allege a separate plan to build a bomb to disperse toxic hydrogen sulphide in a crowded venue.

Mr Phelan said an Isil “controller” in Syria, who was not Australian, suggested venues in Sydney. “They were talking about crowded closed spaces, you know, potentially public transport, and so on,” he said.

“We have completely disrupted this plot so now not only have we stopped the IED that we believed to go on the plane but we have also completely disrupted the intended chemical dispersion device, and we believe we have got all the necessary components of that device as well.”

The bomb was allegedly constructed by the suspects using military grade explosive sent by Isil via an international air cargo flight from Turkey.

“With assistance from the IS [Isil] commander, the IED was assembled into what we believe was a functional IED to be placed on that flight,” Mr Phelan said.

The initial terrorist act was due to occur between April 13 and July 16, and the second was planned for between July 16 and July 29.

“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, we were a long way from having a functional device,” said Mr Phelan.

Reports say that messages from Isil went on for months and contained many details into how the most destructive plot ever concocted on Australian soil would be executed.

The two men charged are Khaled Khayat and Mahmoud Khayat, 32, who each face two counts of planning a terrorist act. The charges carry a maximum punishment of life in prison. A third man remains in custody and a fourth was arrested without charge after raids across Sydney last weekend.

The men did not apply for bail at a court hearing yesterday, and bail was formally denied.