Two men who plotted to blow up a prayer hall in Sydney and “cut heads” off civilians in the name of the ISIL Takfiri group were both jailed for 20 years on Friday.
Omar Al-Kutobi, 25, and Mohammed Kiad, 27, were arrested last year at a flat they shared where police found a hunting knife, a machete, homemade explosives and a black ISIL flag.
A video had just been made of Al-Kutobi, who was born in Iraq and took Australian citizenship in 2013, brandishing a knife and making threats, the Supreme Court heard.
Police also found two notes including the statement: “We are the soldiers of the Islamic State, we are here to cut your heads,” Justice Peter Garling told the court.
The pair had two days earlier gone to a Shiite prayer hall in western Sydney on February 8, 2015, intending to set off a blast.
They were surprised by a man and escaped from a police chase before deciding to focus on attacking random members of the public.
Garling sentenced them to serve no less than 15 years before being allowed parole, noting their planning was substantial and had reached a late stage.
An informant had tipped off police about their plans and the pair had been under surveillance for weeks.
“It is clear that … by the end of 2014, both of the offenders had been drawn to and had embraced the ideology of the ISIL and extremist views,” Garling said.
Kiab, who was born in Kuwait and moved to Australia in 2012, and Al-Kutobi pleaded guilty to conspiring to plan a terrorist attack.
Australian officials say 11 terror attacks have been prevented on home soil in the past two years. But several have taken place, including the murder of a Sydney police employee last year.
Source: AFP
