Five found guilty of Australian terrorism plot

FIVE Muslim men were yesterday found guilty of plotting a jihadist attack using guns and explosives to protest over Australia’s involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Prosecutors said the men gathered firearms, chemicals and bomb-making instructions from July 2004 to November 2005, but did not reveal the target of the planned attack.

The Sydney men, four of whom are of Lebanese descent while one is of Bangladeshi origin, face possible life sentences. The five, who cannot be named, range in age from 25 to 44.