Australian Police Foil Terror Plot

Radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakr was among 17 people arrested in Australia early Tuesday in an operation that police said foiled a major terror attack.

Nine men were arrested in Melbourne and six in Sydney, in raids carried out by some 500 police on nearly two dozen locations. The suspects were held on charges including belonging to a terror group and conspiracy to commit an act of terror.

Police garnered explosive chemicals, weapons, computers and backpacks at the sites. The chemicals were similar to those used in the London Underground bombings, Melbourne prosecutor Richard Maidment said.

Maidment told a Melbourne court Tuesday that Abu Bakr, a supporter of Osama bin Laden, was the ringleader of the group, The Age reported.

A detective told the court that 240 hours of conversations between the suspects had been recorded, including discussions of military jihad and martyrdom. In one conversation, one of the suspects requested permission to become a martyr.

Police did not reveal the intended target or timing of the planned attack.

Federal police commissioner Mick Keelty said the investigation of the terror group would continue for some months, The Australian reported. He said the investigation did not specifically target Australia’s Islamic community.