Sydney counter-terrorism arrests: Intelligence operatives say alleged plot was ‘as close to a major terror attack as we have ever come’
AN international Etihad flight had been targeted by Sydney’s alleged terror cell but was saved when they changed their plans at the last minute.
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AUSTRALIA came close to a major terror attack after an international flight was earmarked by suicide bombers before the alleged Sydney terror cell changed plans at the last minute, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
“It was as close to a major terror attack as we have ever come,” a senior source said.
He said the alleged plan to bring down a plane with up to 500 passengers was close to being carried out.
The masterminds allegedly plotting the attack had not purchased tickets, according to the airline.
Etihad has told The Daily Telegraph their records show butcher Khaled Khayat and his three associates had not bought air-tickets on any Etihad flights in July or August.
The Daily Telegraph revealed today the Etihad flight was the target of an alleged plot to put gas substances in a common kitchen meat mincer, which may have exploded on board or gassed the hundreds of passengers.
Foreign spies from intelligence agencies in the United States and Britain helped Australia discover the alleged plot to bring down an Etihad flight out of Sydney.
Intelligence sources said there was no suggestion the four detainees had trained overseas, although they were allegedly in contact with Islamic extremist groups operating in Syria and Iraq.
National security agencies are confident eliminated any threat posed by the alleged plot.
Khayat and three others are still being held for questioning over the alleged plot.
No charges have been laid.
On Monday, police officers painstakingly sifted through garbage bins at a unit block in Sproule St, Lakemba linked to Khayat.
Earlier, Etihad Airways released a statement saying it is assisting police with the investigation.
“The Etihad Airways aviation security (AVSEC) team is assisting the Australian Federal Police (AFP) with its investigation and the matter is ongoing. Etihad is complying fully with the enhanced security measures at airports in Australia and monitoring the situation closely. Safety is the airline’s number one priority,” an airline spokesman said.
Five properties were raided on Saturday — one each in Lakemba, Surry Hills and Wiley Park, and two at Punchbowl.
Three days after AFP officers raided a Surry Hills townhouse, police presence at the Cleveland Street property remains high.
Police have Goodlet Lane, which runs behind the row of terraced homes, blocked off to the public as they continue to search the raided property.
Yesterday, residents were forced to show ID as they arrived at and left their home while searches continued.
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Intelligence from Australia’s Five Eyes partners, the United States, Britain, New Zealand and Canada, helped crack the alleged terror cell operating in Sydney’s suburbs.
The four men are being held under anti-terror laws that were approved by the chief magistrate on Sunday. They can be held for seven days without charge while security services search for evidence about the alleged terror plot.
One of those arrested was Khayat, a keen footy supporter who has posted pictures of himself on social media wearing his football jersey. He had no criminal history.
The former butcher was also a regular customer at the Darwiche Halal Butchery.
“He would just come in by himself, he was very nice so I am surprised by all this,” part-owner Mohammed Darwiche said.
Among other materials taken by police in the past few days were pipes, gas bottles, SIM cards and components believed to be from a meat grinder that was allegedly being turned into an improvised device of destruction.
However, AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin has been keeping his cards close to his chest.
“The plot that we are investigating we believe was an attempt to put a device onto an aircraft, but beyond that the speculation is just that — speculation,” Mr Colvin said.
“Until we finish our investigation, until we know which of our many working theories we have, and until we can put that information before the courts it’s not helpful to keep speculating.”
In Surry Hills, friends of one of the others questioned were stunned to hear the hardworking paint sprayer had been implicated in a terror plot.
The man, in his early 40s, was one of 15 children who worked seven days a week at a factory in Botany and spent his Friday nights sipping water and betting on the horses at the Surrey Club Hotel in Cleveland St.
“He loved betting on horses, he’s a gambler as is his dad,” a friend said. “He would bet on horses while drinking water, he’s a quiet guy who never troubled anyone, all he did was work at the factory for the last seven years.
“His father is sick in hospital with a lung condition and his mother suffers from heart problems so he lived at home to look after them.
“I’d be very shocked to learn he was radicalised as he never once went to the mosque. I saw his sister in Lakemba two weeks ago and none of the family were religious but her face was covered in headgear.
“Maybe things have changed in the family, but they were not the least bit religious growing up as children in Surry Hills.”
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