2LT Local News

The man, Khaled Khayat, is one of three brothers, all natives of Lebanon, allegedly involved in the plot.

Mahmoud Khayat, who was arrested at the same time as his brother Khaled in July 2017, is still awaiting a jury verdict,

Khaled Khayat, whose defence team claimed he had gone to the airport to try and prevent the attack being carried out, was instead found guilty of conspiring for the plot to proceed. The jury took only two days to deliver its verdict.

Justice Christine Adamson has ordered the jury to continue its deliberations on Mahmoud Khayat.

A third brother, an ISIS commander who arranged for his brothers to blow up the Etihad plane was found guilty of other crimes last year and sentenced to hang. He was tried in Baghdad, after being arrested and taken into custody in Raqqa, the former headquarters for ISIL in Syria, earlier in 2018.

Tarek Khayat, 48, was tried and convicted of terrorism in relation to his activities with Islamic State. He has yet to be charged with his involvement in the plot to put two bombs on board an Etihad flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi. He will now likely avoid being charged, as his execution will likely precede any attempt to put him on trial.

Khayat’s two brothers however, are now facing the music in Sydney, with one already convicted, and the other awaiting the jury's verdict.

If the bombing of the Etihad flight from Sydney in July 2017 had gone ahead, the plane would have exploded over the state’s Central West. 

The plot uncovered by police, which resulted in five arrest raids across Sydney at the end of July 2017, involved detonating two bombs on the Sydney to Abu Dhabi flight on 15 July 2017. 

It was revealed in August 2017 that Australian police were tipped off by intelligence officials in Lebanon about the plan. 

It is alleged the men intended to smuggle the bombs on to the A380 plane, one in a meat grinder and the other in a Barbie doll. 

Another brother was believed to have been involved in the plot.

A fifth brother, Amer Khayat was to travel on the flight, unwittingly with the bombs in his luggage, however Australian Federal Police have concluded he was not aware of the plot. He is still in custody in Lebanon, where he was arrested soon after he arrived from Sydney. Australian police have conffrmed he has been cleared of any wrongdoing and should be released.

His brothers had planned to detonate the bombs about 20 minutes into the flight. 

At that time, around 9:40pm on the 15th of July, the plane, which was carrying 400 passengers and crew, would have been approaching a cruising altitude of 33,000 feet and would have been flying over Dubbo or Gilgandra. 

All 400 on board would have been killed and potentially more on the ground. The plan unravelled when the bomber’s luggage was found to be 7 kilograms overweight and could not be checked in. Amer Khayat, unaware of what was planned, removed the bag that contained the bombs.