Suspected Sydney plane bomb plot ringleader and Australian IS terrorist captured in Iraq

Updated

An Islamic State (IS) commander suspected of hatching a plan to blow up a flight from Sydney last year and an Australian IS fighter allegedly connected to the country's most notorious terror cell have been captured in Iraq.



Key points: One of those captured in Iraq, Tarek Khayat, alleged to have instigated plot to smuggle bomb contained in meat grinder on Etihad flight departing Sydney

Police allege Ahmed Merhi was in direct contact with homegrown IS cell behind several Sydney terror plots, including fatal shooting of Curtis Cheng

Merhi first alleged Australian IS terrorist known to have been captured in Iraq

Senior Australian officials have told the ABC that Islamic State commander Tarek Khayat and his Australian relative, Ahmed Merhi, were detained in Iraq earlier this year, but their arrests have been shrouded in secrecy because of diplomatic sensitivities surrounding the cases.

The two men kept in close contact with some of Australia's most notorious terrorism suspects from their positions in Syria, but appear to have shifted to Iraq when IS was routed from its territory in both countries last year.

Mr Khayat, a Lebanese citizen, is allegedly responsible for one of the world's most serious airline bomb plots, which came so close to carnage in the skies above Australia last year that it left the global intelligence community shaken and Australian counter-terrorism authorities in damage control.

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The Australian Federal Police say Mr Khayat directed his Sydney-based brothers, Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat, to blow up an Etihad flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi on July 15 last year with 400 passengers and crew on board.

The plot went undetected by Australian authorities and was only foiled by chance by an Etihad check-in officer at Sydney Airport, according to a court dossier prepared by the Lebanese military prosecutor on the case and obtained by the ABC.

Defence Minister Marise Payne confirmed an Australian had been arrested in Iraq, but would not comment on the details of the arrest.

"We are very clear that we expect those who have joined the conflict, and those who are in breach of Australian laws — and, indeed, international law — to be dealt with according to justice," she said.

Senator Payne said the Government was yet to seek extradition.

Chance carry-on baggage check exposes plot

Lebanese prosecutors allege the sophisticated plot was hatched by Mr Khayat from inside Islamic State's former Syrian stronghold of Raqqa to exact revenge on the west for the deaths of two of his teenage sons in the Syrian war months earlier.

It is alleged Mr Khayat connected two of his Sydney-based brothers, Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat, to a senior Islamic State controller in Syria who instructed them on how to make sophisticated self-timed bombs.

According to the Lebanese tribunal documents, the bombs were hidden in a meat grinder and a Barbie doll which were put in the hand luggage of a third Sydney-based brother, Amer Khayat, who was travelling to Lebanon via Abu Dhabi to visit family.

It was only when an Etihad check-in officer decided to weigh Amer Khayat's carry-on bag that the plot was allegedly aborted and the bombs were removed from the hand luggage.

Australian authorities were unaware of the plot until they received a tip-off from Israel's military intelligence 11 days later.

Another three days later, on July 29, Australian police arrested Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat in Sydney.

The Sydney-based brothers are charged with planning a terrorist attack and are due to enter a plea next month, ahead of an expected trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court next year.

Amer Khayat was arrested in Lebanon 10 days after his brothers and is preparing to face a hearing in Lebanon's military tribunal.

Before moving to Syria with his wife and five children in 2014, Tarek Khayat was a senior Islamic State commander in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli.

He was wanted by Lebanon for allegedly trying to set up an IS emirate in the country's north and for leading his followers in battles against the Lebanese Army in Tripoli in 2014, shortly before he fled to Syria.

Ahmed Merhi arrested in Iraq

The July 29 police raids in Sydney also targeted some members of the Merhi family, who are relatives of the Khayats, but none of them were charged over the plot.

Senior Australian officials told the ABC another member of that family, Ahmed Merhi, was arrested in Iraq early this year.

Mr Merhi, a former labourer in his 20s, is the first Australian Islamic State fighter known to be detained in Iraq.

Mr Merhi travelled from Sydney to Syria in 2014 and used his notoriety on social media to exhort Australian Muslims to attack non-believers and carry out suicide attacks.

Police say Mr Merhi was in direct contact with members of Australia's most notorious Islamic State cell, which was responsible for several failed terror plots and the 2015 shooting murder of Sydney police accountant Curtis Cheng outside the Parramatta police headquarters.

Mr Merhi's family confirmed his arrest when approached by the ABC but refused to comment any further.

Pair may face different court systems

Dr Seth Jones, a former senior Pentagon adviser who briefs international counter-terrorism agencies on the threat posed by Islamic State, said the flow of foreign fighters to the Middle East remains significant.

"There are a number of Australians as well as other westerners still in Iraq and Syria," he said.

While Australian authorities can decide to seek Mr Merhi's extradition in order to face charges, Tarek Khayat is more likely to be tried in Iraq. Mr Khayat is a citizen of Lebanon, which rarely seeks the extradition of terror suspects.

"I think the other step that Australia must take is to think through extradition and ultimately prosecution and whether that would take place in Australia or in a third country depending on citizenship," Dr Jones said.

If the men do face the Iraqi courts, there are concerns that as IS militants they would not get a fair trial, Jacinta Carroll director of national security policy at the ANU said.

"We're hearing reports of criminal cases being done and dusted in 10 to 20 minutes and in some cases there being no legal representation for those who are facing the court," she said.

"[These are] the most extreme cases but we're also seeing some lynch mob approaches."

Arrests 'opportunity' for intelligence

The arrests of Tarek Khayat and Ahmed Merhi will provide crucial opportunities for Australian and international counter-terrorism authorities to question them and gather evidence about the IS threat.

Dr Jones described the arrests as "significant" in the war against IS.

"Certainly with past cases of individuals like Tarek Khayat and Ahmed Merhi, before they're captured they continue to be involved in external operations plots which makes them extremely dangerous, so arresting them is quite a significant development," Dr Jones said.

"The most important step for Australia right now is to get access, if they can, to interview both Tarek Khayat and Ahmed Merhi, to better understand their motivations, to better understand who they've been in contact with and also to better understand if they have information about other Australians operating in Iraq and Syria."

Australian counterinsurgency expert David Kilcullen agreed the arrests could be crucial in understanding how the plot came about.

"It came pretty close to successfully bringing down an aircraft with, perhaps, 400 people on it over Australia," he said.

"If that had happened, it would have been one of the most serious attacks since September 11.

"So the fact that these two are now in custody in Iraq is not only some justice for what was attempted in 2017, but it also potentially gives us insight into more details of how the plot came about.

"It's probably an unrealistic expectation to think that intelligence or police agencies will get all of these [attempted attacks] ahead of time.

"In fact, the cooperation between nations, which seems to have happened here, is actually fundamental to how international counter-terrorism works."

The Australian Federal Police and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade declined to comment on the story and referred the ABC to the Department of Home Affairs.

A spokesperson from Home Affairs said it was "not appropriate to comment on matters that may be subject to legal proceedings at this time".

Do you know more about this story? Email Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop



Topics: terrorism, unrest-conflict-and-war, murder-and-manslaughter, crime-prevention, crime, law-crime-and-justice, sydney-2000, sydney-airport-2020, iraq, lebanon, united-arab-emirates

First posted</s>CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s government confirmed that an Australian had been detained in Iraq after a media report on Wednesday that an Islamic State group commander suspected of masterminding a plot to blow up an airline flight from Sydney and an Australian relative were captured.

Commander Tarek Khayat, a Lebanese citizen, and his relative Ahmed Merhi were detained in Iraq earlier this year, but their arrests have been shrouded in secrecy because of diplomatic sensitivities surrounding the cases, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported, citing anonymous Australian officials.

Defence Minister Marise Payne confirmed that an Australian had been detained, but would not comment on his identity.

“I can confirm advice today that an Australian is currently detained in Iraq as a result of the ongoing conflict there,” Payne told reporters.

Australian police allege Merhi communicated with a homegrown Islamic State cell behind several Sydney plots, including the 2015 fatal shooting of a police accountant outside the state police headquarters.

Australian police also allege Khayat directed his Sydney-based brothers, Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat, to blow up an Etihad Airways flight from Sydney to Dubai on July 15 last year with around 400 passengers and crew on board.

The plot went undetected by Australian authorities and was only foiled by chance by an Etihad check-in officer at Sydney Airport, according to a court dossier prepared by the Lebanese military prosecutor on the case and obtained by the ABC.

The plot was not immediately discovered, but bag carrying the explosives never boarded the plane and four men were later charged.

Merhi is allegedly the first Australian Islamic State fighter to be caught in Iraq.</s>CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australia's government has confirmed that an Australian has been detained in Iraq after a media report that an Islamic State group commander suspected of masterminding a plot to blow up an airline flight from Sydney last year and an Australian relative were captured.

Australian Broadcasting Corp. cited anonymous Australian officials in reporting on Wednesday that Lebanese commander Tarek Khayat and his relative Ahmed Merhi have been detained in Iraq since earlier this year.

Australian police allege Merhi communicated with a homegrown Islamic State cell behind several Sydney plots, including the 2015 fatal shooting of a police accountant outside the state police headquarters.

Australian police also allege Khayat directed his Sydney-based brothers, Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat, to blow up an Etihad Airways flight from Sydney to Dubai July 15 last year.</s>Two Islamic State fighters allegedly connected to Australian terrorism - including a plot to blow up a plane leaving Sydney last year - have been captured in Iraq.

IS commander and Lebanese citizen Tarek Khayat and his Australian relative, Ahmed Merhi, were detained earlier this year, senior Australian officials have confirmed, the ABC reported on Wednesday.

The pair was in close contact with some of Australia's most notorious terrorism suspects from Syria but are believe to have moved to Iraq when IS changed territories last year.

Tarek Khayat is alleged to have directed his Sydney-based brothers to smuggle a bomb hidden inside a meat grinder onto an Etihad plane due to depart from Sydney for Abu Dhabi on July 15.</s>An Australian Islamic State terrorist and the suspected ringleader of the Sydney Etihad plane bomb plot have been arrested in Iraq. Tarek Khayat and Ahmed Merhi were detained early in 2018, but their arrests have been kept secret, the ABC has reported. Australian National University Policy Director Jacinta Carroll has told Sky News that their arrests are extremely significant for preventing a string of future attacks in Australia.</s>MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australian police have charged three men with committing terrorist acts on suspicion of starting fires at a Shiite Muslim mosque in Melbourne last year, inspired by Islamic State and intending to divide the Muslim community.

 Two of the men are already in custody and awaiting trial on suspicion of plotting bomb attacks in Australia's second largest city last year, while a third – a 29-year-old Melbourne man – was arrested late on Saturday.

 All three face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment over the arson attack at the Imam Ali Islamic Centre in December 2016.

 Australian Federal Police's counter terrorism national manager said that attacking a place of worship had no place in society.

 “It is clear that these arson attacks were designed to intimidate and influence those that attend this mosque and the wider Islamic community," Assistant Commissioner Ian McCartney said on Sunday.

 Australia, a staunch U.S. 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.

 While there have been several "lone wolf" attacks, officials say 13 significant plots have been foiled in that time.

 Police say the three men were adherents of militant Sunni Muslim ideology. 

 Police said the arrest of the man on Saturday came after extensive investigations into fires at the Melbourne mosque – but said it did not relate to any direct threat to the community.

 The other two men facing charges are in custody and awaiting trial for allegedly planning militant attacks around Christmas Day 2016 in Melbourne.

 The two, a 25-year-old and a 27-year-old, will also be charged with terrorist offences for causing a previous fire at the Imam Ali Islamic Centre in November 2016.

 The man arrested on Saturday will appear in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Sunday, while the other two will appear in court on Monday. 

 This month, two men were charged with terror-related offences after authorities disrupted what they described as an Islamic State-inspired plot to bomb an Etihad Airways flight.

 Another man arrested in relation to the foiled plot was charged with weapons offences and released on bail. A fourth man was released without charge.

 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.

 

 (Reporting by Joseph Hinchliffe; Editing by Robert Birsel)</s>Two Islamic State fighters allegedly connected to Australian terrorism - including a plot to blow up a plane leaving Sydney last year - have been captured in Iraq.

Senior Australian officials confirmed IS commander and Lebanese citizen Tarek Khayat and his Australian relative, Ahmed Merhi, were detained earlier this year, the ABC reports .

The pair was in close contact with some of Australia's most notorious terrorism suspects from Syria but are believed to have moved to Iraq when IS changed territories last year.

Tarek Khayat is alleged to have directed his Sydney-based brothers to smuggle a bomb hidden inside a meat grinder onto an Etihad plane due to depart from Sydney for Abu Dhabi on July 15.

According to the ABC, Lebanese prosecutors allege Tarek Khayat connected his brothers to an IS operative in Syria who taught them how to make self-timed bombs.</s>Suspected Sydney plane bomb plot ringleader and Australian IS terrorist captured in Iraq

An Islamic State (IS) commander suspected of hatching a plan to blow up a flight from Sydney last year and an Australian IS fighter allegedly connected to the country's most notorious terror cell have been captured in Iraq.



Senior Australian officials have told the ABC that Islamic State commander Tarek Khayat and his Australian relative, Ahmed Merhi, were detained in Iraq earlier this year, but their arrests have been shrouded in secrecy because of diplomatic sensitivities surrounding the cases.

The two men kept in close contact with some of Australia's most notorious terrorism suspects from their positions in Syria, but appear to have shifted to Iraq when IS was moved from its territory in both countries last year.

Mr Khayat, a Lebanese citizen, is allegedly responsible for one of the world's most serious airline bomb plots, which came so close to carnage in the skies above Australia last year that it left the global intelligence community shaken and Australian counter-terrorism authorities in damage control.

The Australian Federal Police say Mr Khayat directed his Sydney-based brothers, Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat, to blow up an Etihad flight from Sydney to Dubai on July 15 last year with 400 passengers and crew on board.

The plot went undetected by Australian authorities and was only foiled by chance by an Etihad check-in officer at Sydney Airport, according to a court dossier prepared by the Lebanese military prosecutor on the case and obtained by the ABC.

Lebanese prosecutors allege the sophisticated plot was hatched by Mr Khayat from inside Islamic State's former Syrian stronghold of Raqqa to exact revenge on the west for the deaths of two of his teenage sons in the Syrian war months earlier.

It is alleged Mr Khayat connected two of his Sydney-based brothers, Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat, to a senior Islamic State controller in Syria who instructed them on how to make sophisticated self-timed bombs.

According to the Lebanese tribunal documents, the bombs were hidden in a meat grinder and a Barbie doll which were put in the hand luggage of a third Sydney-based brother, Amer Khayat, who was travelling to Lebanon via Dubai to visit family.

It was only when an Etihad check-in officer decided to weigh Amer Khayat's carry-on bag that the plot was allegedly aborted and the bombs were removed from the hand luggage.

Australian authorities were unaware of the plot until they received a tip-off from Israel's military intelligence 11 days later.

Another three days later, on July 29, Australian police arrested Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat in Sydney.

The Sydney-based brothers are charged with planning a terrorist attack and are due to enter a plea next month, ahead of an expected trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court next year.

Amer Khayat was arrested in Lebanon 10 days after his brothers and is preparing to face a hearing in Lebanon's military tribunal.

Before moving to Syria with his wife and five children in 2014, Tarek Khayat was a senior Islamic State commander in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli.

He was wanted by Lebanon for allegedly trying to set up an IS emirate in the country's north and for leading his followers in battles against the Lebanese Army in Tripoli in 2014, shortly before he fled to Syria.

The July 29 police raids in Sydney also targeted some members of the Merhi family, who are relatives of the Khayats, but none of them were charged over the plot.

Senior Australian officials told the ABC another member of that family, Ahmed Merhi, was arrested in Iraq early this year.

Mr Merhi, a former labourer in his 20s, is the first Australian Islamic State fighter known to be detained in Iraq.

Mr Merhi travelled from Sydney to Syria in 2014 and used his notoriety on social media to exhort Australian Muslims to attack non-believers and carry out suicide attacks.

Police say Mr Merhi was in direct contact with members of Australia's most notorious Islamic State cell, which was responsible for several failed terror plots and the 2015 shooting murder of Sydney police accountant Curtis Cheng outside the Parramatta police headquarters.

Mr Merhi's family confirmed his arrest when approached by the ABC but refused to comment any further.

While Australian authorities can decide to seek Mr Merhi's extradition in order to face charges, Tarek Khayat is more likely to be tried in Iraq. Khayat is a citizen of Lebanon, which rarely seeks the extradition of terror suspects.

If they do face the Iraqi courts, there are concerns that as IS militants they would not get a fair trial, Jacinta Carroll director of national security policy at the ANU said.

"We're hearing reports of criminal cases being done and dusted in 10 to 20 minutes and in some cases there being no legal representation for those who are facing the court," she said.

Dr Seth Jones, a former senior Pentagon adviser who briefs international counter-terrorism agencies on the threat posed by Islamic State, said the flow of foreign fighters to the Middle East remains significant.

"There are a number of Australians as well as other westerners still in Iraq and Syria," he said.

"I think the other step that Australia must take is to think through extradition and ultimately prosecution and whether that would take place in Australia or in a third country depending on citizenship."

The arrests of Tarek Khayat and Ahmed Merhi will provide crucial opportunities for Australian and international counter-terrorism authorities to question them and gather evidence about the IS threat.

Dr Jones described the arrests as "significant" in the war against IS.

"The most important step for Australia right now is to get access, if they can, to interview both Tarek Khayat and Ahmed Merhi, to better understand their motivations, to better understand who they've been in contact with and also to better understand if they have information about other Australians operating in Iraq and Syria."

Do you know more? Email Rubinsztein-Dunlop.Sean@abc.net.au.</s>Two Islamic State fighters allegedly connected to Australian terrorism - including a plot to blow up a plane leaving Sydney last year - have been captured in Iraq.

IS commander and Lebanese citizen Tarek Khayat and his Australian relative, Ahmed Merhi, were detained earlier this year, senior Australian officials have confirmed, the ABC reported on Wednesday.

The pair was in close contact with some of Australia's most notorious terrorism suspects from Syria but are believe to have moved to Iraq when IS changed territories last year.

Tarek Khayat is alleged to have directed his Sydney-based brothers to smuggle a bomb hidden inside a meat grinder onto an Etihad plane due to depart from Sydney for Abu Dhabi on July 15.

Four men were arrested in late July over the conspiracy.

Two of the four arrested - Khaled Khayat and his brother Mahmoud Khayat - have each been charged with two counts of planning or preparing a terrorist act.

A third man, Khaled Merhi, was charged with an unrelated weapons offence, while the fourth was released without charge.

Another Sydney-based brother Amer Khayat was alleged to have been carrying the improvised explosive device, although there are conflicting views on whether he was aware of what it was.

The bomb never made it onto the airliner because it exceeded weight limits at the check-in counter.

A month after the arrests, Lebanon officials said Tarek Khayat had moved to the IS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria and become a commander in the jihadist group more than 12 months earlier.</s>Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi vowed on Wednesday to chase Islamic State militants in Iraq as well as in the region.

Abadi, as quoted by his media office, told a gathering of tribesmen in Diwaniyah province that “we will not stop chasing Daesh (acronym for Islamic State) not only in Iraq, but in the region”.

He vowed to make more victories over the militant group. “The mission is not easy, but we shall make another miracle after that of the grand victory”.

News circulated over the past weeks that Iraq was taking its fight against Daesh beyond the borders into neighboring Syria, where the militants are reportedly nearing defeat to Russian-backed Syrian government forces and U.S.-backed Kurdish troops.

Abadi said in a weekly briefing a few weeks ago that his country had ended IS’s presence on its soil, and that plans were there to start the stage of chasing the militants in Syria. But military officials denied later that any incursion was carried out on Syrian soil.

Iraq declared victory over IS militants in December, ending a three-year war to retake territories occupied by the group. Iraqi officials, on several occasions, had reiterated they would not take military action against the group in Syria without approval from the Syrian government.
Officials announce the arrests in Iraq of two men suspected of plotting terror attacks for Islamic State in Australia.