Video aimed at inspiring next 'lone wolf'

A terrorism expert who went to school with a number of the Bali bombers, and developed a program to de-radicalise jihadists returning to Indonesia, warned four years ago of the growing threat from "lone wolf" terrorists.

And Noor Huda Ismail, who now lives in Melbourne, says would-be terrorists who are not connected to any command structure are almost impossible for security agencies to identify.

Omar Al-Kutobi, 24, and Mohammad Kiad, 25, were arrested on Tuesday as they were allegedly preparing to carry out a terrorist attack in Sydney.

Police have said neither man was on a security watch-list.

Mr Ismail, who went to the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Solo, central Java, along with a number of the Bali bombers, says the arrests this week are further evidence the new breed of extremist is the "guy next door".

"This will be the difficulty of any security apparatus at the moment," he said.

"This is clearly now the challenge. The biggest threat will come from people like that."

Mr Ismail identified the growing the threat from so-called lone-wolf terrorists, and in 2011 contributed to a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute warning of the increasing number of "freelancers" inspired by groups such as al-Qaeda.

In internet chatrooms, he says, these "at risk" individuals will easily segue from conversations about "hair gel" to talk about the "latest beheading video".

Mr Ismail says it's almost impossible for security agencies to identify such people before they act, and authorities must "move away from looking at this as a security issue and focus on the demographic aspect of the threat".

The comments come as details of the contents of a video allegedly made by Al-Kutobi and Kiad emerged on Thursday.

In a graphic description of the video, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said one of the men could be seen "kneeling before the death cult flag with a knife in his hand and a machete before him".

"One of the men arrested said: 'I swear to almighty Allah, we will carry out the first operation for the soldiers of the caliphate in Australia'," Mr Abbott told parliament.

The man went on to say: "I swear to almighty Allah, blond people, there is no room for blame between you and us. We only are you, stabbing the kidneys and striking the necks."

Mr Ismail says the language allegedly used in a video seized during the arrests of the two men in Sydney on Tuesday was undoubtedly aimed at "glory for himself and to inspire others".