2 Sydney Men Charged With Plotting Terrorist Act to Face Court

MELBOURNE: Two Sydney men charged with plotting a terrorist attack are expected to face court via video link today.

The two accused - Omar Al-Kutobi, 24, from Iraq and Mohammad Kiad, 25, from Kuwait - were arrested in a raid carried out by the New South Wales Police at a house in the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield on Tuesday, following a tip-off that they were planning an attack.

Their case was to be heard yesterday but it was cut short due to security concern and nature of charges, media reports said.

Police alleged that they seized a machete, a hunting knife, an Islamic State (IS) flag and a video with a recorded message in Arabic in which a man allegedly talked about carrying out an attack.

They have been charged with preparing to commit a terrorist act, which carries a maximum punishment of life in prison.

The men will appear by video link today and have an opportunity to apply for bail.

The investigators said that it was not clear as who the accused were allegedly planning to kill while declining to confirm that that a police officer was a target.

"The type of act that we will allege that was going to be undertaken is consistent with the messaging coming out of IS," NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn had said yesterday.

Meanwhile, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said he had ordered his department to conduct an urgent review of the accused men.

While Kiad is originally from Kuwait, Kutobi moved to Australia from Iraq in 2009. Both had been working as removalists.

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