Police charge two over plane bomb, gas plots directed by IS

SYDNEY: Australian police said today that two men had been charged with terror-related offences involving plans to place a home-made bomb on a flight leaving Sydney, and, separately, to build a device to release poisonous gas.

Michael Phelan, Australian federal police deputy commissioner, National Security, said the plot targeted an Etihad Airways flight and was “inspired and directed” by the Islamic State militant group.

Explosives for the device were sent to Australia via air cargo from Turkey, and the bomb was assembled with assistance from an Islamic State commander, Phelan said.

The device was disguised as a commercial meat mincer and taken to check-in counters at Sydney Airport on July 15. The plan was aborted and the bomb did not breach airport security, he said.

Etihad said earlier this week it was assisting police with its investigation.

US officials said this week that a foreign intelligence service had intercepted communications between the plotters in Sydney and Islamic State members in Syria.

The officials declined to identify the service.

Another US official said the target of the plot appeared to have been a commercial flight from Sydney to the Gulf.

Police arrested four men last weekend in raids across Sydney, Australia’s biggest city.

One man has been released, while another is being held without charge under special counterterror laws.

Domestic media have identified the two men who have been charged as Khaled Khayat and Mahmoud Khayat, who each face two counts of planning a terrorist act.

Phelan said that, in a separate event, the same men had also tried to create an improvised chemical device designed to release poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas, although he said there was no evidence to suggest that it would have been used in a plane attack.

Australia, a staunch US ally that has sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, has been on heightened alert since 2014 for attacks by home-grown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East, or their supporters.

A gunman in a 2014 Sydney cafe siege boasted about links with Islamic State militants, although no direct ties with the group were established.

The gunman and two other people were killed in the siege. – Reuters