Australian police release man arrested in plot to bomb plane

A man arrested in connection with what Australian authorities say was a plot to bring down a plane has been released from police custody after being charged with a weapons offense.

Australian Federal Police say Khaled Merhi was charged on Sunday with possession of a prohibited weapon and granted bail. He was not charged with any terrorism-related offenses.

Merhi was arrested on July 29 along with three other men in raids across Sydney. Two of the men arrested alongside Merhi were charged last week with two counts of planning a terrorist act. Police say they were involved in an aborted attempt to place an improvised explosive device on an Etihad Airways flight out of Sydney last month in a plot directed by the Islamic State group.