Convicted terrorist Bilal Khazal has parole rejected again

A one-time confidante of Osama bin Laden who produced a manual for would-be terrorists will stay behind bars after being ruled too great a risk to the Australian public to be paroled.

One of Australia’s most notorious terrorists convicted of producing a DIY terrorist handbook will spend another year behind bars after his parole was rejected on national security grounds.

Bilal Khazal arrives in handcuffs at the NSW Supreme Court for his sentencing hearing. File picture

Former Qantas baggage handler and one-time confidante of Osama bin Laden, Bilal Khazal, has already served his minimum non-parole period of nine years jail out of a 12-year sentence in the nation’s toughest jail, the Goulburn Supermax.

But the Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter has decided he still poses an “unacceptable risk to the community”.

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Khazal will come up for parole every year until his sentence finishes in 2021 but is unlikely to be released before that unless there is change to high-level government advice he remains a risk to public safety. He was also rejected for parole last year.

A spokesman for the Attorney-General’s Department said: “Each parole decision involves weighing the risks of the prisoner re offending or endangering community safety against the benefits for the prisoner in being allowed to reintegrate into the community under parole supervision.

“In this case, the Attorney-General was not satisfied Mr Khazal does not present an unacceptable risk to community safety.”

“The Attorney-General will reconsider Mr Khazal for release on parole by July 2020.”

Bilal Khazal was convicted of producing a DIY terrorism manual. Picture: Sam Mooy

Khazal from Sydney’s southwestern suburb of Lakemba has long been of interest to the spy agency ASIO. He first came to their attention in 1994 when he was stabbed during a fight outside the Lakemba mosque by a rival Muslim sect member.

He underwent terrorist training in Afghanistan, where he met and befriended bin Laden, and built his contacts with the al Qaeda terror network.

After the 9/11 terror attacks, Khazal was identified in a CIA report as bin Laden’s trusted man on the ground in Australia.

He was also connected to the Spanish al Qaeda operative, Abu Dahdah, who in turn is accused of having strong links to one of the masterminds behind the September 11 attacks. Dahdah was convicted and jailed on terrorism charges, but has since been released.

Khazal was arrested in 2004 for compiling a document considered “likely to facilitate terrorism”.

It detailed how to shoot down planes, strike motorcades and assassinate high-ranking government officials in Australia, Britain, the US and other countries. It also listed specific methods of assassinations, including remote detonation of devices, letter bombs and sniper attacks.

It was published on an internet site endorsed by al Qaeda.

Bilal Khazal will remain in jail for another year. Picture: Sam Mooy

Khazal was convicted in 2008 of compiling the terrorism manual titled, “Provisions on the Rules of Jihad: Short Judicial Rulings and Organ­isational Instructions for Fighters and Mujahideen against Infidels’’.

His defence team argued that Bilal Khazal had simply cut and pasted the information from existing sites and that he wasn’t fully responsible for the document.

He was briefly released from jail in 2011 after his conviction and 12-year sentence were set aside by the NSW Court of Appeal. It was later reinstated by the High Court.