Australia teens planned to run down, behead police

Sevdet Besim and Harun Causevic, both 18, allegedly sought to go fight with Islamic State in Syria and Iraq

By AFP 5 May 2015, 2:37 pm

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Forensic experts collect evidence from a house in the Guildford area of Sydney as part of Australia's largest ever counter-terrorism raid on September 18, 2014. (AFP/Saeed Khan)

SYDNEY, Australia – Two Australian teenagers arrested last month on terror charges allegedly planned to run down police officers with a car, behead them and then shoot other people, reports said Tuesday.

Two Melbourne men, Sevdet Besim and Harun Causevic, were charged with conspiring to commit a terrorist act, allegedly at an Anzac Day parade for Australia’s soldiers on April 25.

Besim, 18, has withdrawn his application for bail but lawyers for Causevic told Melbourne Magistrates Court that their client, who is also 18, should be released pending his hearing, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The case against Causevic was “far more limited” than that against his co-accused Besim, his lawyer Michael O’Connell told the court, the national broadcaster said.

Prosecutor Andrew Doyle said Causevic had carried out reconnaissance at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance and had in his possession knives and a tactical vest when arrested, the Australian Associated Press reported.

He said the two teenagers, who were being monitored because of their contact with a man who was shot dead by police last year after stabbing two officers, were allegedly prepared to die in their attack.

“They’re motivated by an extreme ideology. They’ve expressed support for a proscribed terrorist group,” said Australian Federal Police officer Denis Scott, referring to the Islamic State group also known as ISIS.

Scott said Causevic allegedly told a driver with whom he had a minor car accident on April 11 that: “Australia is sh– and ISIS is going to kill this country.”

The court heard that both men had applied for passports and were allegedly preparing to travel to fight in Iraq and Syria alongside the jihadists.

Scott said Besim had allegedly been in touch with a 14-year-old British boy who was also arrested last month on terror-related charges and had told him he had access to a machete.

“Sharpen that as hard as you can, then run police over and decapitate,” the Briton allegedly said, prompting Besim to reportedly reply: “That sounds like a plan.”

Under cross-examination, Scott said there was no evidence that Besim relayed these conversations to Causevic, who turned 18 in January and has no prior convictions.

Australia raised its threat level to “high” last September and has since carried out a series of counter-terrorism raids, with alarm fueled by the departure of more than 100 of its nationals to Iraq and Syria to fight alongside jihadists.