Suspected Sydney plane bomb plot ringleader and terrorist linked to Curtis Cheng murder face death in Iraq
THE mastermind of the alleged plot to blow up an Etihad Airlines A380 flying out of Sydney is facing a death sentence in Iraq and is being held in jail without charge since his arrest earlier this year. INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC
NSW
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THE mastermind of the alleged plot to blow up an Etihad Airlines A380 flying out of Sydney is facing a death sentence in Iraq.
Lebanese national and senior Islamic State commander Tarek Khayat is being held without charge in an Iraqi jail after his arrest there this year.
Khayat has never visited Australia but authorities believe that from his former base in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, he inspired and directed his three brothers to try to smuggle a homemade bomb hidden inside a meat mincer onto the Etihad flight bound for Dubai on July 15.
The plot allegedly failed only because the device was too heavy to carry on board and a second alleged plan to build a “chemical dispersal device” was foiled by police raids on July 29.
Two of the brothers, Khaled Khayat, 49, and Mahmoud Khayat, 32, are in Goulburn’s ultra-secure SuperMax prison after being charged with two counts of acting for or planning a terrorist attack.
The third, Amer Khayat, was allegedly prepared to take on the suicide mission and carry the bomb onto the plane and detonate it 20 minutes after takeoff.
He was arrested in Lebanon after he arrived from Australia in mid-July.
Held alongside Khayat is his Sydney relative Ahmed Merhi, an IS terrorist linked to the notorious cell allegedly behind Curtis Cheng’s murder.
Related through marriage, the men have extensive family in Sydney, including four men arrested in counter-terrorism raids over the Etihad plot.
Their futures look sealed with the Iraqi Justice Ministry publicly pledging this week “to kill those responsible for shedding Iraqi blood”.
Special counter-terrorism courts have been dishing out swift justice, with a conviction rate of 98 per cent and hearings that infamously last 10 minutes.
A Turkish woman and a German mother-of-two are among foreign nationals already sentenced to death by hanging and the Iraqi government said 11 people were executed on Monday for terrorism crimes.
Two of Ahmed Merhi’s relatives were released without charge over the Etihad plot.
One of them — a cousin Khaled Merhi, 41 — was charged with a separate offence of possessing an unauthorised weapon, a modified taser.
The Surry Hills spray painter pleaded guilty earlier this year to the charge and is on bail awaiting sentence.
Ahmed Merhi’s sister — suspended public servant Linda Merhi, 40 — is expected to apply for bail next week on five charges of sending money to her brother in the nine months leading up to Mr Cheng’s assassination in October 2015.
The police accountant, 58, was shot dead by Farhad Jabar, 15, on the steps of Parramatta police headquarters. Jabar was killed in a shootout with special constables.
Parramatta Local Court has been told that Linda Merhi was sending money to Ahmed Merhi and the Mujahideen “to supply weapons to Islamic State”.
Another Merhi relative, a 16-year-old schoolgirl, has also been charged with sending thousands of dollars to Merhi.
It is alleged the money was handed to the girl by Milad Atai on Merhi’s instructions.
Atai, 21, is one of three men committed to stand trial on charges including preparing and planning a terrorist act relating to the murder of Mr Cheng.
Ahmed Merhi, the first alleged Australian IS terrorist known to have been captured in Iraq, fled Australia in 2014 to join IS.
While Iraq’s counter-terrorism law allows the death penalty for anyone “who commits, incites, plans, finances or assists in acts of terrorism”, the Australian government will only seek to extradite Merhi if he is freed without charge by the Iraqis.
Defence Minister Marise Payne yesterday said the Department of Foreign Affairs was providing consular assistance to an Australian citizen detained in Iraq.
“We don’t speculate in intelligence matters but we are very clear we expect those who have joined the conflict (in Iraq and Syria) and those who are in breach of Australian law … to be dealt with according to justice,” she said.
Tarek Khayat is wanted in several countries for crimes including recruiting fighters for Islamic State.