Terror suspect allegedly carrying beheading pictures

An Australian man believed by Australian Federal Police to have been trying to fly to Syria to join a jihadi group was allegedly in possession of terror related images.

Taxis line up at Melbourne Tullamarine airport

(AAP)

Federal Police are continuing their investigation into a terror suspect who was hauled off a flight at Melbourne Airport this week.

The man was released last night after questioning, and was reportedly in possession of photographs of beheadings and the flag flown by the Islamic State.

He was intercepted by Australian Federal Police officers after boarding a flight believed to be destined for the Middle East and removed from the plane.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison today told the ABC that the man - and another man stopped at Sydney airport on Sunday - had not previously been under surveillance, but now were.

"Our customs and border protection officers have used their initiative and their experience to identify these individuals and they have been turned away from those flights," he said.

"They obviously now go into the broader system of monitoring and surveillance that we have connected up with our other agencies.

"They haven't committed any crime, or anything of that nature, so charges or being held in that context is not applicable here."

He said others had been detained in recent months but did not provide further detail.

Yesterday Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the man was caught by a specialist new counter-terrorism squad designed to stem the flow of foreign fighters leaving for battlefields in Iraq and Syria.

The new Australian Customs and Border Protection counter-terrorism units were introduced last week to monitor the movements of people on the national security watchlist.

So far they're based at Sydney and Melbourne international airports but eventually will be stationed at airports across the country.

The realease of the man comes a day after the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, David Irvine warned that extremist groups were "grooming new suicide bombing candidates" to joing fighting in Iraq and Syria.

"The process of recruitment, which I also think is grooming, is occurring here," Mr Irvine told the National Press Club in Canberra.

Fifteen Australians have been killed fighting alongside the al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State, including two young suicide bombers.

Another 60 are believed to be fighting for those groups at the moment.




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