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Their trip to the Philippines has become a focal point for counter-terrorism probes. However, authorities remain uncertain about their activities during their stay and might never completely piece together their actions.
This area is known for its connections to terrorist groups linked to the Islamic State.
Travel documents reveal that the pair landed in the Philippines on November 1 and departed for Australia on November 28.
On Wednesday, Philippine police investigated the GV Hotel and confirmed that the duo resided there for the duration of their stay in Davao.
Philippines police visited the GV Hotel and confirmed on Wednesday the pair stayed there the entire time they were in Davao.
One of the rooms at GV Hotel where Sajid and Naveed Akram, suspects in the deadly Bondi Beach shooting, stayed last November. Source: Getty / Ezra Acayan
Staff of the GV Hotel said the pair rarely left the hotel and had minimal interactions with other guests or staff.
One hotel worker, Jenelyn Sayson, told The Guardian the Akrams did not behave suspiciously during their stay.
Visit to gun shop
“Our reviewing of CCTVs is ongoing so we can see the other places they visited and the people they could have spoken with,” she said.
Police inquiries had also revealed that neither of the men had visited any of the city’s seven gun ranges, he said.
Possible contact with an IS group
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said this week the evidence of the flags showed that the “radical perversion of Islam is absolutely a problem” both in the country and around the globe.
He was investigated for six months by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) in 2019 “because of his connections with two people who subsequently … went to jail,” Albanese said.
The GV Hotel in Davao is where the pair reportedly spent most of their time, according to local authorities and hotel staff. Source: Getty / Ezra Acayan
That investigation concluded there was no evidence he had been radicalised, and he was not subject to ongoing monitoring after the investigation ended. His father Sajid was shot dead by police during the Bondi attack.
“You can’t just go to the southern Philippines and show up at an IS-run training camp and ask; there’s a level of connectivity and a set of relationships that you would need to have in place,” he told ABC Radio on Wednesday morning.
Were they trained by an IS group?
“They would go out and come back after two or three hours, the longest was eight hours, but still … that time window [would] not suffice for them to get out of Davao,” he said.
