Lebanon says it helped foil plot to blow aeroplane in Australia

Bomb was supposedly hidden inside a large Barbie doll

Lebanon's interior minister says the country's police intelligence played a major role in foiling a plot to bring down an Emirati passenger plane that was supposed to take off from Australia.

Nouhad Machnouk told reporters on Monday that four Lebanese-Australian brothers, including one who is in detention in Lebanon, had plotted to blow up the plane with a bomb hidden inside a large Barbie doll.

Australian authorities have said they thwarted a credible terrorist plot to down an aeroplane by smuggling a device onboard. They have provided few details, including the precise nature of the threat or any airlines involved.

Machnouk said two other brothers are held in Australia while the fourth is a senior member of the Islamic State group based in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa.