One of the terrorists who carried out the Bondi Beach attack was investigated over links to extremist Islamic groups six year ago, it has emerged.
Naveed Akram, 24, was the subject of a six-month probe by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) in October 2019.
He was judged not to pose any “ongoing threat” and subsequently not placed on a watchlist.
On Sunday, he and his father Sajid Akram, 50, carried out the atrocity near Bondi Beach in which 15 people were killed.
The revelation that Akram was known to the intelligence services leaves the authorities facing questions over why he was free to carry out the deadly attack.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: "He was examined on the basis of being associated with others and the assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence.”
Albanese said the two gunmen were acting alone and not part of a wider extremist cell, adding they were "clearly" motivated by "extremist ideology".
Police reportedly found Islamic State (IS) flags in the car used by the pair and Albanese said several improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were also discovered.
Sources in anti-terror sources say both men pledged their allegiance to IS, according to Australian broadcaster ABC.
The younger Akram was closely connected to Isaac El Matari, self-proclaimed leader of a Sydney-based IS cell now serving seven years in jail for planning an Islamist insurgency, it was also said.
The source said several other individuals convicted of terrorist offences were also close to the son.
Sajid arrived in Australia, reportedly from Pakistan, in 1998 on a student visa, amended in 2001 to a partner visa and later resident return visas.
He had been a licensed firearms holder for the past 10 years, and was a member of a gun club.
All six weapons registered to him were recovered from the scene.
The father and son had lived in Bonnyrigg, New South Wales, about an hour's drive inland from Bondi Beach.
They were there until a few weeks ago, when they moved to an Airbnb in Campsie, closer to the scene of the attack.
Sajid’s wife Verena said her son Akram had told family he gone to Jervis Bay with his father for a weekend of fishing and swimming before the attack.
Akram's father died at the scene but the son was apprehended and taken to hospital under police guard in critical but stable condition, where he remains in a coma.
The home in Bonnyrigg and the rental property in Campsie have both been raided by police.
An intelligence source told the Telegraph that the father and son had spent a month together in the Philippines before the massacre.
The source claimed the pair followed a “well-trodden path” for Islamic extremist radicalisation by visiting the country.
“There’s areas down there that are very dangerous… (with) training camps and the like.”
Three months ago, Australia expelled its Iranian ambassador after it claimed Tehran had ordered attacks against Jewish targets in the country in 2024.
These included an October arson attack on a Sydney cafe and an attack on a Melbourne synagogue in December.
At the time, ASIO boss Mike Burgess said his team had found links “between the alleged crimes and the commanders in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC”.
Naveed spoke about religion “sometimes” and boxed to keep fit, a former workmate called told Australian television.
The colleague recalled that the suspect had left his job a few weeks ago after saying he had injured his hand, intending to return in the New Year.
“One of the last things he said to the boys was that he wanted to be remembered.”
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