Flydubai co-pilot began radicalisation in Australia, UAE prosecutors say

The co-pilot who tried to seize control of a Tel Aviv-bound flydubai jet was radicalised in Australia, according to United Arab Emirates prosecutors. Photograph: Ammar Awad/ReutersView image in fullscreenThe co-pilot who tried to seize control of a Tel Aviv-bound flydubai jet was radicalised in Australia, according to United Arab Emirates prosecutors. Photograph: Ammar Awad/ReutersFlydubai co-pilot began radicalisation in Australia, UAE prosecutors sayHammam al-Hammami’s shift towards extremism began while he was a student in Melbourne, according to Emirati attorney general

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The co-pilot who tried to seize control of a flydubai jet flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv last week had been radicalised while studying in Australia, prosecutors in the United Arab Emirates said on Friday.

Passengers and crew on the 30 September flight, which had 182 people onboard, intervened to stop 29-year-old Omani national Hammam al-Hammami’s alleged attempt to hijack the plane on its way to Israel.

Dr Hamad Saif al-Shamsi, attorney general of the UAE, said al-Hammami’s shift towards extremism and terrorism began while he was studying at RMIT University in Melbourne.

During his time in Melbourne, he was influenced by the hardline takfiri ideology through reading extremist literature and online content glorifying terrorist organisations and suicide attacks, the attorney general said.

Read moreThe statement was shared on UAE government social media and first reported by the state-run Emirati news agency, known as WAM.

According to the statement, al-Hammami allegedly told prosecutors he adopted ideas advocating violence and terrorism and drew inspiration from the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.

“The idea of carrying out a similar operation using an aircraft became firmly established in his thinking,” the statement said.

al-Hammami allegedly prepared himself both psychologically and physically to carry out the alleged terror plot by intensifying his exposure to material promoting terrorism and training in boxing under a private coach.

On Monday, RMIT University confirmed that he had studied at its Melbourne campus, but “did not successfully complete an engineering qualification”. Guardian Australia sought further comment from the university on Saturday.

Last weekend, Australian security agencies launched an investigation after it emerged al-Hammami spent about two years in the country as a student until 2017.