Australian charged over terrorist plot targeting government
An Australian man was charged on Wednesday with possessing documents connected to a planned terrorist attack on government targets in Sydney.
But the police insisted that people should not be afraid.
Sulayman Khalid, 20, who also goes by the name Abu Bakr, was arrested following raids last week which uncovered a large number of documents, a rifle, and two shotguns.
He was charged with being in “possession of documents designed to facilitate a terrorist attack”, while a 21-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was accused of breaching a control order that prohibited him making phone calls.
Their arrests come on the back of a series of pre-dawn raids across Sydney and Brisbane in September as concern mounts about the flow of people to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group and other jihadists.
“Certainly the documents talked a little bit about potential government targets,” said Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner for National Security Michael Phelan.
Targets in Sydney
He said the targets were in Sydney, but did not go into detail.
“I am confident that we’ve disrupted the activity that they were planning. And that is all I’m prepared to say at this particular point.”
Khalid and the second man were both remanded in custody and will face court again in February.
Source: AFP
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