Australia launches probe into FlyDubai co-pilot’s past, and other Mideast news

Australian authorities launched a probe into an Omani FlyDubai co-pilot’s time in Australia after he was detained over an alleged attempt to seize an Israel-bound aircraft and crash it .

Meanwhile, Israel bars the U.K. Green Party’s leader from entering the country, and ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey hold a trilateral defense pact meeting in Riyadh.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Monday. Full coverage is available here .

Australian security agencies are investigating the Omani pilot’s time in Australia around a decade ago, Australian Federal Police said.

The FlyDubai pilot is in custody in the United Arab Emirates after he allegedly attempted to take control of the Israel-bound plane.

A police statement on Monday said a joint counterterrorism team, including federal and state police and Australia’s domestic intelligence agency, “is investigating the man’s links to Australia.”

New Zealand’s police agency also said the co-pilot had spent time in New Zealand and that the authorities would investigate.

News media have reported he was granted an Australian student visa in 2014 and arrived in Australia to start a university course in 2015. He left Australia in 2017, and his visa was canceled in 2019 after authorities confirmed he was no longer enrolled in the course, media reported.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said late Sunday he was declaring Britain’s Green Party leader Zack Polanski barred from entering Israel and described the Party’s resolution as “a clear antisemitic text.”

The Green Party passed the motion earlier Sunday at its annual conference in Brighton, declaring itself “anti-Zionist.” The resolution said Zionism will be “treated as any other form of racism” and that the party supported a “single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.”

The Greens hold only 5 seats in the 650-member Parliament. Polanski, who was campaigning for the seat in Parliament held by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, did not participate in the vote. In a statement with Green lawmakers and his deputies, he said that there was “no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people.”

Saar said the resolution “legitimizes armed struggle against Israel,” and an earlier statement by the Israeli Foreign Ministry also sharply condemned it and called it a stain on the U.K.

The foreign and defense ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are holding talks in Riyadh as part of a trilateral defense cooperation agreement , Turkish and Pakistani officials said.

The meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee, established under the Mecca Joint Agreement, comes as Yemen’s internationally recognized government, backed by Saudi Arabia, has announced a major military operation against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels as they advance in the outskirts of a key city.

Pakistan said participants would discuss the latest regional developments and review ongoing cooperation under the Mecca Agreement, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on Aug. 7, pledging to treat an armed attack on any one of them as an attack on all three.

This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.