A Muslim group has complained to the Australian Federal Police for using the term ‘Islamic-inspired terrorism’ to describe an alleged plot to bomb a passenger plane.
AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin used the phrase late last month when asked by a journalist if the four men arrested across Sydneywere connected with ISIS.
‘We do believe it’s Islamic inspired terrorism,’ he told reporters as he stood next to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Three of the four men arrested during the raids have since been charged.
‘Exactly what is behind this is something that we will need to investigate fully,’ Commissioner Colvin told reporters.
The Islamic Council of Queensland’s media spokesman Ali Kadri was so angry at that phrase he initially complained to the ABC, which had aired the live media conference.
However, after realising the national broadcaster had quoted the AFP commissioner in one of its stories, he lodged a complaint with the Australian Federal Police on behalf of the Islamic Council of Queensland, Council of Imams Queensland and the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils.
‘Had a chat with AFP’s media team to register my protest,’ he told his Facebook followers.
‘It is disappointing that such language was so casually used.
‘I hope it was an oversight and quickly rectified.’
An AFP spokesman said ‘community liaison teams’ had reached out to the Islamic community but he declined to comment on the phrase ‘Islamic-inspired terrorism’.
‘Violent extremism is a challenge to the most fundamental Australian values,’ he told Daily Mail Australia on Sunday.
‘Together we reject who seek to impose their world views on others through intimidation and violence.’
Four Lebanese men, from two father and son duos, were arrested on July 29 during Saturday raids at Surry Hills, near the city, and at Lakemba, Punchbowl and Wiley Park in western Sydney.
It is alleged they were part of an ISIS-inspired terror plot to smuggle an improvised explosive device, disguised as a meat grinder, on to an Etihad Airways flight out of Sydney that could have killed more than 400 people.
A 39-year-old man was charged on Sunday with one count of possessing a prohibited weapon and released from police custody.
He was given bail to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on August 24.
On Thursday, a 49-year-old Lakemba man and a 32-year-old Punchbowl man were charged with two counts of acts done in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act.
They face a maximum penalty of life in jail if convicted.
A 50-year-old man was released from police custody on August 1, without charge.
Daily Mail Australia revealed last week they had allegedly targeted flight EY 451, bound for Abu Dhabi shortly after 3pm on July 15.
Police revealed the plot was aborted at the last minute, possibly because the bag containing the bomb was too heavy for check-in.
The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, with a capacity for up to 412 people, was scheduled to depart at 3.20pm Sydney time, but left nine minutes early.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Mr Kadri for comment.