Police investigating Flydubai co-pilot’s Australia ties

Australian police and intelligence join the list of those probing the incident.Authorities have said they are investigating the links of the co-pilot of the Israel-bound Flydubai flight with Australia.A multi-agency Australian police and intelligence team – the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team – is carrying out the probe, a spokesperson said on Sunday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Flydubai co-pilot attacked captain with crash axe in ‘terrorist act’: UAElist 2 of 3Who is the mystery co-pilot behind the Flydubai attack?list 3 of 3What we know about the co-pilot accused in Flydubai attackend of listMystery surrounds the co-pilot, who is accused of attacking the captain with an axe and attempting to seize control of Flight FZ1073 from Dubai as it approached Israel, and how he was able to acquire his seat in the plane’s cockpit.He has been identified in media reports as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami.He had been barred from flying in his own country because of concerns that he had adopted “extremist” views, The Associated Press news agency cited sources as saying.While al-Hammami reportedly spent part of his life in the United Arab Emirates, the Reuters news agency, citing sources briefed on the Australian investigation, reported that he studied at a university in the Australian city of Melbourne.A third unnamed source told the agency that he studied at RMIT University, a public research university in Melbourne, about a decade ago.The Financial Times also reported al-Hammami’s links to Australia. Citing two sources familiar with the Australian investigation, the FT said al-Hammami had allegedly visited what it described as “radical mosques and extremist websites” while in the country.Disaster was averted after passengers and crew subdued the co-pilot and a reserve pilot took over its controls and completed an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.