Australian accused of kangaroo bomb plan

MELBOURNE, Australia — A teenage suspect discussed with a British accomplice packing a kangaroo with explosives before setting it loose on Australian police officers, prosecutors alleged on Thursday.

Sevdet Ramadan Besim was ordered in the Melbourne Magistrates Court today to stand trial in the Victoria state Supreme Court on charges that he planned an Islamic State group-inspired terrorist attack at a Veterans’ Day ceremony in April last year that included targeting police officers.

Besim, 19, pleaded not guilty to four charges relating to a plot to attack commemorative services in Melbourne or the neighboring city of Dandenong to mark ANZAC Day, the annual April 25 commemoration of the 1915 Gallipoli landings in Turkey. The campaign was the first major military action fought by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during World War I and hundreds of thousands attend commemoration services around Australia. Besim faces a potential life sentence in prison if convicted.

Besim and four alleged conspirators were arrested in Melbourne a week before ANZAC Day. He has been in custody since.

Prosecutors alleged in court documents that Besim discussed with a British-based accomplice in online conversations that a kangaroo could be packed with explosives, painted with “the IS symbol” and set loose on police.

Besim was also accused of planning to use a car to run over, then behead, a police officer.