Brandis: Australian teen's involvement in suicide bomb attack 'disturbing'
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Version 0 of 1. The attorney general, George Brandis, says confirmation an Australian teenager was behind a deadly suicide bomb attack in Iraq is a "disturbing development" that reinforces fears of a security threat to Australia. It has also emerged that a Lebanese-Australian cleric allegedly linked to al-Qaida was arrested in Tripoli, Lebanon over the weekend. Sunni cleric Hussam al-Sabbagh, wanted for alleged "terrorist activity", was stopped at a checkpoint by soldiers acting on "several arrest warrants", the army said. Sabbagh, a prominent backer of the armed revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is suspected of recruiting and sending fighters across the border. His arrest came as the federal government said an 18-year-old from Melbourne was behind an attack in Baghdad last week that killed five people. He was 17 when he left Australia for the region last year, a spokesman said. "This is a disturbing development and is a further example of the dangerous and volatile situation in Iraq at present," Brandis said. "The participation by Australians in the conflict in Iraq and Syria poses a significant domestic security threat to Australia when those involved return home and seek to pursue violence here." The 18-year-old bomber was described by the terror group Isis (also known as Isil) as a "knight" and martyr and named as Abu Bakr al-Australi. "The government deplores the violent actions being undertaken by Isil and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria," Brandis said. "As I have said many times, it is illegal for Australians to engage in the conflicts in Iraq and Syria and the government urges Australians not to travel to the region." Brandis said the government would "continue to take all necessary measures" to keep Australia and Australian interests safe. Hours after Sabbagh's arrest, police raided the Tripoli home of a suspect wanted in connection with a Beirut hotel bombing last month. As they moved in to arrest him, Monzer Khaldoun al-Hassan, a dual Lebanese-Swedish national, was killed by a grenade he was handling, a security source said. Police suspected Hassan of having provided explosive belts to two Saudi suicide bombers who blew themselves up when police raided their Beirut hotel on 25 June. |