ISIS recruiter allegedly told Sydney terror accused Omarjan Azari: ‘Just pick any random unbeliever’

From the Australian Daily Telegraph and the Sydney Morning Herald

A SENIOR Islamic State fighter and a terror accused discussed recruiting a minor to kill “unbelievers” in Sydney for propaganda videos because a juvenile would not be under the police surveillance, a Supreme Court jury has heard. 

A transcript of a phone conversation between senior Islamic State fighter Mohammad Ali Baryalei and Sydney man Omarjan Azari was read out to the jury in which the Syrian-based terrorist said they needed to find someone to “terminate five, six, seven people every month”.

“Just pick any random unbeliever,” Baryalei tells Azari. “Finish him, her, when finished, put the flag of the state in the background … we can make the video here and start posting it.”

Baryalei said he’d give the video to Islamic State’s media arm and it would be used to show Australians that by “killing our people” Australians would be killed in return. He said he wanted the work to be “continuous” and to preferably involve western tourists or backpackers as it would make “worldwide news”.

“I want you to do this work but I want this work to be continuous,” he said. “Terminate five, six, seven people a month and we will make videos and videos and videos.”

He told Mr Azari it was an order from the “commander of the faithful” and that Mr Azari should select two or three boys “with perfect faith” to do it with him. “They want youse to be, like, the soldiers [in Australia],” he said.

“I have no problem with that,” Mr Azari replied.

Mr Azari suggested that he be given two months to get a new phone and to allow time for the “extreme” surveillance on him and his group of 17 young friends, who met at Parramatta Mosque and called themselves The Shura, to subside.

Azari, now 24, has pleaded not guilty to doing an act in preparation for a terrorist act by engaging in the phone conversation with Baryalei. However he has pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to finance a terrorist organisation by trying to send around $9000 to Baryalei.