Australian police detain 15 in pre-dawn raids after threats of random beheadings

Nearly 900 police officers took part in Australia's biggest ever anti-terror operation yesterday, with synchronised pre-dawn raids across Sydney and Brisbane.

Police say the raids foiled a plan to carry out a campaign of random public beheadings in the cities.

Mohammad Ali Baryalei, the man believed to be Australia’s most senior Islamic State member in the Middle East, is alleged to have issued an instruction to kidnap people off the street, drape them in an Islamic State flag and behead them.

All of this was to be filmed and the videos sent to the terror group, which would then post them on the internet, the authorities claimed.

Australia's prime minister, Tony Abbott, said the thwarted plan was for "demonstration killings here in this country".

“So this is not just suspicion, this is intent,” he said.

Omarjan Azari (22), one of 15 people detained in the Sydney raids, is accused of conspiring with Mr Baryalei and others in preparing or planning a terrorist act or acts.

Plan to terrify

The alleged plan was “clearly designed to shock, horrify and terrify the community”, prosecutor Michael Allnutt told Sydney’s central local court.

He added that there was “a plan to commit extremely serious offences” that involved an “unusual level of fanaticism”.

Mr Allnutt said the plot involved the “random selection of persons to rather gruesomely execute”.

The court heard that those allegedly involved continued to plan the attacks despite knowing they were under police surveillance.

The charges against Mr Azari stem from a single phone call intercepted earlier this week. The authorities acted quickly to detain a group of mostly Afghan Australians, concerned at how close the plot was to going ahead.

“It’s been an immediate reaction to a clear, imperative danger,” Mr Allnutt said. “There is still an enormous amount of material for police to assess.”

Mr Azari’s barrister, Steven Boland, said “the allegation is based on one phone call of very limited compass that federal police have put forward”.

Dr Jamal Rifi, a Muslim community leader in Sydney who has had his and his family's lives threatened for speaking out against Islamic terrorism, said his reaction to the raids "is one of horror".

"What happened today is a double-edged sword," Dr Rifi told The Irish Times. "First of all is the horror to know that there is someone who would think of harming an innocent Australian citizen in such a despicable act.

“For someone to harbour such thoughts, it sends a shiver along my spine.

“And second is my apprehension that we as the Australian Muslim community will be judged collectively as a whole by the thoughts of one person.

“We need to know that there is due process happening here, that the person who has been charged should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise, and if they are found guilty, the guilt should only be for the person who is at fault and not a collective guilt for all Australian Muslims,” he said.

Mr Azari did not apply for bail, but most of the others who were arrested have been bailed. These include a 24-year-old man who was charged with possessing ammunition without licence and unauthorised possession of a prohibited weapon.

Terror alert

The arrests came a week after Australia’s terrorism alert level was lifted to its highest point ever – where a terrorist attack is said to be likely.

Australia has sent eight fighter jets, two other military aircraft, 400 support staff and 200 special forces troops to the United Arab Emirates to be on standby for any action against Islamic State in Iraq.