Australian airport thieves held

The police said the theft of computers had posed no security risk

Australian police have charged two men over a theft of computers from a top security area of Sydney airport.

The unemployed Sydney residents, aged 19 and 24, posed as technicians to enter the airport's mainframe rooms and allegedly took away two computers at the end of August, police said.

At the time of theft, media reports had suggested that the computers held thousands of confidential files.

But the Australian authorities denied this.

"I am satisfied that all available information to hand indicates that the theft of these computers was a criminal enterprise motivated by commercial gain and has not posed any threat to national or aviation security," said Australian Justice and Customs Minister Chris Ellison in a statement.

Security breaches

The men were arrested and charged with one count of theft each, police said.

They were released on bail and ordered to appear before a Sydney court on 14 October.

If convicted, the men face a maximum penalty of 10 years in the prison.

A third man surrendered the stolen computers and was helping the police, an official quoted by AFP news agency said.

The security breach is the latest in a series in Australia recently.

In a previous incident at the Sydney airport, a man smuggled sharp wooden stakes into an airplane, according to AFP.

A laptop computer containing details of national maritime security was stolen during a break-in at government office in Canberra last month.

Australia has been on heightened security since the bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali last October.

Of the 202 people killed, 88 were Australian.