Suspected Sydney plane bomb plotters held in Iraq

The suspected ringleader of a failed plot to blow up an Etihad flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi last year has been captured in Iraq. His Australian relative, an Islamic State soldier, has also been detained. Intelligence experts say the arrests could provide crucial information about the global terror threat. It was a radical plot that made it all the way to the airport check-in counter. Bombs hidden in a meat grinder and put in hand luggage, intended to obliterate an Etihad passenger plane from Sydney to Abu Dhabi in July last year (2017). Now the alleged mastermind has been captured in Iraq. The A-B-C reports Islamic State commander and Lebanese citizen Tarek Khayat (kie-at), along with his Australian relative Ahmed Merhi (mur-hee), was detained earlier this year. It's alleged Tarek Khayat directed two of his Sydney-based brothers to carry out the attack. The plan was allegedly called off at the last minute because a check-in officer said a third brother's carry-on bag was too heavy. Australian authorities were unaware of the events until they received a tip off from Israeli intelligence days later. The head of the counter-terrorism policy centre at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Isaac Kfir (fear), says the attack was brazen and telling of the priorities of I-S, which is also known as Daesh (day'sh).

Ahmed Merhi holds Australian citizenship. Supplied Source: Supplied