AN Australian court has found a man guilty of plotting to blow up an Etihad Airways flight out of Sydney at the behest of the Islamic State militant group, by hiding a bomb in the luggage of his brother.
The man, Khaled Khayat, and another brother, Mahmoud Khayat, were accused by the police of planning two terrorist attacks that also included a chemical gas attack on the flight to Abu Dhabi in July 2017.
= The third brother was unaware that he was carrying a bomb, disguised as a meat mincer, in his luggage, as he tried to check in at the airport, police said.
But the device was taken out of his luggage when it was deemed too heavy and the bomb never made it past airport security.
Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat were arrested weeks later after a series of raids in Sydney, Reuters reported.
'The jury returned a guilty verdict for Khaled and is still deliberating in respect of Mahmoud,' a spokeswoman for the New South Wales Supreme Court said.
Police had alleged that high-grade military explosives used to make the bomb were sent by air cargo from Turkey as part of a plot 'inspired and directed' by Islamic state.
Khaled's sentence hearing has been set for July 26. The charges carry a maximum punishment of life in prison.
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The man, Khaled Khayat, and another brother, Mahmoud Khayat, were accused by the police of planning two terrorist attacks that also included a chemical gas attack on the flight to Abu Dhabi in July 2017.
= The third brother was unaware that he was carrying a bomb, disguised as a meat mincer, in his luggage, as he tried to check in at the airport, police said.
But the device was taken out of his luggage when it was deemed too heavy and the bomb never made it past airport security.
Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat were arrested weeks later after a series of raids in Sydney, Reuters reported.
'The jury returned a guilty verdict for Khaled and is still deliberating in respect of Mahmoud,' a spokeswoman for the New South Wales Supreme Court said.
Police had alleged that high-grade military explosives used to make the bomb were sent by air cargo from Turkey as part of a plot 'inspired and directed' by Islamic state.
Khaled's sentence hearing has been set for July 26. The charges carry a maximum punishment of life in prison.
WORLD SHIPPING