Australian police arrested five men overnight, foiling an alleged terror plot planned for Melbourne on Christmas Day, officials announced Friday morning at a press conference. The suspects reportedly planned to attack areas in the center of the city, including Federation Square, Flinders Street Station, and St. Paul's Cathedral. The plot "involved explosives and possibly knives or guns," ABC News reported.

The arrests were made in overnight raids, during which police say they uncovered the "makings of an improvised explosive device." The five suspects, all Australian citizens, are between the ages of 21 and 26; four of the five men were born in Australia, and one was born in Egypt. Investigators said the suspects were "self-radicalized but certainly inspired by ISIS and ISIS propaganda."

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called it "one of the most substantial terrorist plots that have been disrupted over the last several years." Becca Stanek </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> 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> 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> SYDNEY — Australian officials say police have raided properties in several Sydney suburbs and arrested four men suspected of plotting a terrorist attack.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the counter-terrorism raids Saturday were designed to stop “terrorist attacks in Australia.”

 Turnbull the raids were related to a bomb plot involving aircraft and that police had recovered significant evidence.

The operation was carried out by the Australian Federal police, New South Wales state police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the country’s domestic spy agency. </s> Police in Australia have detained five men suspected of planning a series of Christmas Day bomb attacks in the heart of the country’s second-largest city, officials said Friday.

The suspects had been inspired by the Islamic State group and planned attacks on Melbourne’s Flinders Street train station, neighbouring Federation Square and St. Paul’s Cathedral, Victoria state Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said.

The arrests came after a truck smashed into a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday, killing 12 people. A manhunt is underway for the person behind that attack, which prompted increases in security around the world.

Two of seven people initially arrested in raids Thursday night and Friday morning in Melbourne — a 26-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman — were released without being charged, police said.

Five men between the ages 21 and 26 remained in custody and would be charged later Friday with preparing a terrorist attack. They were not identified but police said four were born in Australia and the fifth was Egyptian-born with Egyptian and Australian citizenship.

Police had been watching the alleged plotters for some time, and believed they were preparing to use explosives, knives and a gun, Ashton said.

Police believed the threat had been neutralized through the raids on five Melbourne premises, he said.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: “This is one of the most substantial terrorist plots that have been disrupted over the last several years.”

“Islamist terrorism is a global challenge that affects us all. But we must not be cowed by the terrorists,” Turnbull told reporter.

“We will continue to go about our lives as we always have. What these criminals seek to do is to kill. But they also seek to frighten us, to cow us into abandoning our Australian way of life. They want to frighten Australians. They want to divide Australians. They want us to turn on each other. We will not let them succeed,” he added.

Since Australia’s terrorist threat level was elevated in September 2014, the government says there have been four extremist attacks and 12 plots foiled by police.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said the plotters had moved very quickly from a plan to develop a capability to attack.

“In terms of events that we have seen over the past few years in Australia, this certainly concerns me more than any other event that I’ve seen,” Colvin said.

“We believe that we have removed the bulk of this particular cell, this group,” he said.

Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said there will be extra police on the streets of Melbourne on Christmas Day to make the public feel safe.

About 400 police officers were involved in the raids.

Ashton described those arrested as “self-radicalized” and inspired by Islamic State propaganda. </s> Australian police said on Friday they had foiled a plot to attack prominent sites in the city of Melbourne with a series of bombs on Christmas Day that authorities described as “an imminent terrorist event” inspired by Islamic State. Six men and a woman, all in their twenties, were arrested in dawn raids across Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, Victoria state police said in a statement.

“This is a significant disruption of what we would describe as an imminent terrorist event in Melbourne,” Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin told reporters in Sydney. “We do believe … that we have removed this threat in its entirety,” Colvin said.

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Two of those arrested were released without charge but at least four of those still in custody would likely face court on Friday, the police statement said.

Victorian police chief Graham Ashton said the plot was inspired by the Islamic State militant group. The plot targeted high-profile locations in Melbourne, including Federation Square, Flinders Street Station and St Paul’s Cathedral “possibly on Christmas Day”.

Several teenagers have been arrested in Australia in recent years and charged with terror-related offences, including five young men who police alleged were planning an attack at last year’s centenary ANZAC Day commemorations. </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.
Officials announce the arrests in Iraq of two men suspected of plotting terror attacks for Islamic State in Australia.