Lebanon's police intelligence played a major role in foiling a plot to bring down an Emirati passenger plane bound for Abu Dhabi from Sydney, Annahar reported Monday (August 21st).
Four Lebanese-Australian brothers, including one who is in detention in Lebanon, had planned to blow up the plane with bombs hidden inside a large Barbie doll and a meat grinder, said Interior Minister Nohad al-Machnouk.
He told reporters the bombs did not make it onto the plane because the handbag they were placed in was above the weight permitted by the airline.
He said the bombs were sent back to the would-be attacker's home in Australia.
"The attacker tried to bring two explosives on the plane in case one of them did not work," he said. "The second would be detonated by one of the brothers who was supposed to be the suicide attacker."
Al-Machnouk said two of the brothers, Khaled and Mahmoud Khayyat, are held in Australia, while another, Tarek, is a senior member of the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) based in al-Raqa.
The fourth brother, Amer, was supposed to be on board the plane, working to bring it down 20 minutes after takeoff, but was arrested in Lebanon after he arrived in mid-July from Australia, he said.
Since Tarek moved to al-Raqa and became an ISIS commander, Lebanese police intelligence started tracking his brothers.
Al-Machnouk said that Amer traveled between Australia and Lebanon several times under several pretexts, such as to get engaged or get married.
"When four Lebanese brothers in Australia decide to blow up an Emirati jet this means that the whole world should work together to fight terrorism," he said. "Co-ordination should be 24 hours a day between all security agencies to stop such attacks."
