Khayat brothers plead not guilty to Sydney plane meat grinder bomb plot
WHEN a judge asked two brothers whether they were pleading guilty or not guilty of planning a terrorist attack at Sydney International Airport there were several seconds of agonising confusion.
NSW
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WHEN a judge asked two brothers whether they were pleading guilty or not guilty of planning a terrorist attack at Sydney International Airport there were several seconds of agonising confusion.
Finally Khaled Khayat, 50, of Lakemba, looked straight into the camera from where he was sitting in jail and said, “Who me?”
When Justice Peter Johnson confirmed his question was directed at him, Khaled loudly said, “not guilty”.
His brother Mahmoud Khayat, 33, of Punchbowl, was then asked how he would plead and he clearly said, “not guilty your Honour”.
The brothers appeared via video link in the NSW Supreme Court today and pleaded not guilty to two counts of preparing a terrorist act.
The pair are accused of trying smuggle a bomb concealed in a meat grinder and barbie doll onto an Etihad plane bound for the Middle East on July 15 last year.
Police allege the plan was foiled when Khaled and Mahmoud’s brother Amer Khayat was not able to carry on the hand luggage which allegedly contained the bomb due to the weight.
The court heard Amer ended up boarding the flight and was later arrested in Lebanon where he remains in custody.
After Mahmoud and Khayat entered their pleas today, Justice Johnson set their trial date for March 11 next year.
Their pleas and trial date come just weeks after their other brother Tarek Khayat and his Australian relative, Ahmed Merhi, were arrested in Iraq.
Police allege Tarek directed his Sydney based brothers to blow up the Etihad flight last year.
The ABC reported that Tarek Khayat planned the alleged terror plot from the Syrian city of Raqqa as revenge for the deaths of two of his teenage sons in the Syrian war.
Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat will face trial next year.