SYDNEY (AFP) –
The head of Australia's Comanchero motorcycle gang has been charged with murder over a deadly brawl fought in front of horrified passengers at Sydney airport, police have said.

Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi, 29, had already been charged with affray over the gang violence, which erupted between the Comanchero and members of the rival Hells Angels group at Sydney's domestic terminal in March.

Anthony Zervas, 29, was bludgeoned to death with a crowd control barrier pole during the fracas involving up to 20 bikers as passengers at the check-in counter could only look on.

Police said they arrested Hawi at his home Tuesday and charged him with the murder of Zervas, the brother of a Hells Angel gang member.

Tough new anti-terrorism style laws outlawing biker gangs were passed in the wake of the violence, which sparked reprisal shootings and bomb threats.

Experts say the biker violence stems from turf wars over drug distribution, particularly methamphetamine or "ice."

The recent clashes raised fears that long-simmering tensions between gangs such as the Hells Angels, Comancheros, Bandidos and Rebels could explode into a full-scale biker war.

Australia's worst outbreak of biker violence was a 1984 shootout between the Bandidos and Comancheros in the car park of a Sydney pub, in which six gang members and a 15-year-old girl died.