Australian man found guilty of Etihad 'meat grinder' bomb plot
Australian man found guilty of Etihad 'meat grinder' bomb plot
An Australian jury has found a 51-year-old man guilty of trying to blow up a plane with a bomb disguised as a meat grinder.
2 min read
Mahmoud Khayat was found guilty of trying to blow up an Etihad plane. [Getty]
An Australian jury has found a 51 year-old man guilty of plotting to blow up an Etihad Airways plane flying from Sydney to Abu Dhabi in July 2017.
The man, Khaled Khayat, and his brother, Mahmoud Khayat, were accused by Australian police of plotting to blow up the plane by disguising a bomb as a meat grinder and placing it in the luggage of a third brother, Amer, who was unaware of the plot.
However, the meat mincer bomb was taken out of his luggage by airport security because it was found to be too heavy, and never made it onto the plane.
Amer had previously been arrested in Lebanon but was freed on bail when the Australian Embassy in Beirut presented a Lebanese court with documents suggesting he was unaware of the plot.
The Australian jury has still not reached a verdict in the case of Mahmoud.
Police said that a "high-end military grade" explosive used to make the bomb had been sent by air cargo from Turkey as part of a plot by Islamic State (IS) in April 2017.
Khaled Khayat will be sentenced on July 26 of this year. The charges carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. His supporters expressed shock when the verdict was read out, but declined to comment outside the court.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said last year that Israeli intelligence agencies were responsible for foiling the plot.
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