Australian federal police said Iraqi authorities have arrested a man wanted by Australia in connection with the arson of a synagogue in Melbourne in December 2024.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the suspect, Kazem Hamad, posed a threat to national security and was the top priority for Australian authorities.
Footage of the arson attack on the Melbourne synagogue
Barrett said Iraqi officials made an independent decision to detain Hamad as part of their own criminal investigation, after Australian federal police shared intelligence with Iraqi law enforcement late last year.
The British newspaper The Guardian reported that Hamad is a figure in organized crime, with alleged ties to the illegal tobacco trade in Australia. In a statement, Australian police described him as “one of the most dangerous fugitives in the world.”
Iraq’s National Center for International Legal Cooperation said in a statement that Hamad was arrested as part of a drug investigation, following a request from Australia. The center said he is also linked to outlawed criminal gangs with wide influence in Australia and the Middle East, which it said are responsible for murder, shootings, money laundering, fraud, assaults, arson and large-scale drug trafficking worldwide.
The synagogue arson attack occurred in the early hours of Dec. 5, 2024. Local residents woke to the sound of sirens and found the synagogue engulfed in flames. According to eyewitnesses, three masked individuals were seen at about 4:30 a.m. smashing a window, pouring gasoline, setting the building on fire and fleeing the scene.
Two worshippers who were inside the synagogue for early-morning study noticed the fire and alerted emergency services, preventing any loss of life. The blaze caused total damage to one section of the building, while another section filled with heavy smoke.
Seventeen fire engines and 60 firefighters responded to the scene. Two people were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.