The men accused of trying to blow up an Etihad flight out of Sydney were reportedly monitored by Lebanese authorities for over a year before their dramatic arrests.
Brothers Khaled Khayat, 49, and Mahmoud Khayat, 32, were charged following terror raids in Sydney on July 29, and two others were released.
Lebanon’s interior minister Nouhad Machnouk said the two men, along with another brother Amer, were first placed under surveillance last year, when their brother Tareq moved to Syria’s ISIS stronghold of Raqqa as a commander of the terrorist group.
He claimed his country’s Internal Security Force uncovered the alleged plot to smuggle a bomb on board the jet inside a large Barbie doll.
The bomb allegedly meant to murder 500 people by bringing down an airline flying from Sydney to Abu Dhabi was to be hidden inside a barbie doll, Lebanese officials claim
Khaled Khayat, 49, (pictured) and Mahmoud Khayat, 32, were charged following terror raids in Sydney on July 29, and two other were arrested by released
Lebanon’s interior minister Nouhad Machnouk said the two men, along with their brothers Amer and Tarak (reportedly an ISIS commander in Syria) had been under surveillance for over a year. Forensic crews are seen at a crime scene during the terror raids in July
The bomb was previously alleged to have been concealed inside a meat grinder, but was never checked onto Etihad Airways flight EY451 from Sydney to Abu Dhabi because it was too heavy.
Australia is keeping mum on reports it partnered with Lebanon for more than a year to monitor a plot to blow up a flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi.
Transport minister Darren Chester, who has primary responsibility for Australia’s airports, was reluctant to confirm statements by the Lebanese interior minister.
‘The bottom line is we work very closely with our security partners around the world,’ Mr Chester told Sky News on Tuesday.
‘It’s a team effort in the sense that we do need to share information, because the threat of terrorism crosses international boundaries.’
Khaled Khayat and his brother allegedly planned to sneak the bomb on to the plane in the luggage of an unwitting fourth brother
Australian police this month charged Khaled Khayat and Mahmoud Khayat with two counts of planning a terrorist attack after conducting raids to disrupt what authorities described as an Islamic State-inspired plot to bomb an Etihad Airways flight.
Brother Tarek Khayat allegedly put the pair in Sydney in contact with a dangerous ISIS heavyweight known as ‘The Controller’ in April, who instructed them on how to build the bomb.
Police alleged the components of that bomb had already been flown into Australia from Turkey as air cargo and assembled in Sydney.
Deakin University terror expert Greg Barton suggested the plan may have centred around acetone peroxide – or TATP.
It was the same chemical used in the Manchester Arena bombing in May and the 2015 Paris attacks, and though unstable can be powerful when placed in a pressure vessel.
Their alleged new plan after the bomb plot failed was to release highly toxic hydrogen sulfide gas into Sydney Airport and on public transport at the same time. Pictured, queues at Sydney Airport after the arrests led to more stringent security checks
One of the houses police searched in raids on July 29 that saw four people arrested and two charged
Police would not name the ISIS commander who allegedly sent the explosives to Sydney but said he was ‘not Australian’ and was not related to any of the local terrorism targets.
Mr Machnouk said a fifth, previously unknown, brother was involved and holed up with fellow jihadists in ISIS’ defacto capital of Raqqa in Syria.
After the bomb plan failed, The Controller allegedly told the would-be terrorists how to construct an ‘improvised chemical dispersion device’.
Their alleged new plan was to release highly toxic hydrogen sulfide gas into Sydney Airport and on public transport at the same time.
Police stressed the alleged conspirators ‘were a mile-and-a-half from having a functioning chemical dispersion device’.
Police alleged the components of that bomb had already been flown into Australia from Turkey as air cargo and assembled in Sydney
Police previously thought the bomb was be concealed inside a meat grinder, but was never checked onto Etihad Airways flight EY451 on June 15 because it was too heavy
But a Daily Mail Australia source claimed it was just ‘a fluke’ the Khayat brothers were caught before the alleged second attempt, which was ‘very close’ – even just days or hours from happening.
‘Our tip said if they were going back to the airport, they would let it off in there if they couldn’t get it on a plane,’ the source said.
Letting the alleged terrorists back through the doors of the country’s busiest airport was not an option, the source said.
‘We were told to act if we saw them go to the airport.’
The source said authorities took the tip seriously and it was the most dangerous operation they have been involved in because of how far along the alleged plot was.
Australian security agencies were reportedly unaware of the plot until British and American operatives tipped them off, but Mr Machnouk appeared to be implying it was actually Lebanon.
Police would not name the ISIS commander who allegedly sent the explosives to Sydney but said he was ‘not Australian’ and was not related to any of the local terrorism targets
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