Khater to Appear for Hearing at the Old Bailey End of August

A police van suspected of carrying Salih Khater arrives at Westminster Magistrates court in central London on August 20, 2018. Ben STANSALL / AFP
A police van suspected of carrying Salih Khater arrives at Westminster Magistrates court in central London on August 20, 2018. Ben STANSALL / AFP
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Khater to Appear for Hearing at the Old Bailey End of August

A police van suspected of carrying Salih Khater arrives at Westminster Magistrates court in central London on August 20, 2018. Ben STANSALL / AFP
A police van suspected of carrying Salih Khater arrives at Westminster Magistrates court in central London on August 20, 2018. Ben STANSALL / AFP

Sudanese-born British national Salih Khater, who faces charges of attempted murder for crashing his car into the security barriers surrounding Britain's Houses of Parliament, appeared in court Monday to confirm his name, date of birth and address.

The Metropolitan Police force said 29-year-old Khater faces two charges — attempting to kill police officers, and attempting to kill members of the public.

During a six-minute hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London, he confirmed his name, date of birth and address.

Khater, who is originally from Sudan, also confirmed he was British. He made no application for bail and was remanded in custody.

"Due to the methodology, iconic location and the alleged targeting of civilians and police officers, the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) are treating this case as terrorism," police have said.

Police believe a car was deliberately driven into pedestrians and cyclists, injuring three people, before ramming a security barrier outside parliament last Tuesday.

The crash came less than 18 months after an attacker plowed a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing four people, then fatally stabbed a police officer before being shot dead in a courtyard outside parliament.

Khater will next appear for another short hearing at the Old Bailey in London, England's central criminal court, on August 31.

According to the BBC, Khater worked in Libya for two years as a farm laborer before going to the UK in 2010 as a refugee and then being granted asylum.



Iran Stops Indirect Talks with US in Oman

This handout picture provided by the Oman News Agency shows Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi (R) receiving Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Muscat on October 14, 2024. (Photo by Salem AL-Shukeili / Oman News Agency / AFP) /
This handout picture provided by the Oman News Agency shows Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi (R) receiving Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Muscat on October 14, 2024. (Photo by Salem AL-Shukeili / Oman News Agency / AFP) /
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Iran Stops Indirect Talks with US in Oman

This handout picture provided by the Oman News Agency shows Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi (R) receiving Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Muscat on October 14, 2024. (Photo by Salem AL-Shukeili / Oman News Agency / AFP) /
This handout picture provided by the Oman News Agency shows Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi (R) receiving Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Muscat on October 14, 2024. (Photo by Salem AL-Shukeili / Oman News Agency / AFP) /

Iran has stopped indirect talks with the United States in Oman as tensions remain high over a possible Israeli retaliatory strike on Tehran over an earlier missile attack, the Iranian foreign minister said Monday.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi made the comment to Iranian state media while still in Muscat, Oman.

“For the time being, the Muscat process is stopped because of special situation in the region,” Araqchi said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. “We do not see any ground for the talks until we can pass the current crisis.”

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iran under new President Masoud Pezeshkian has been signaling it wants to negotiate with the US for sanctions relief. Since then-President Donald Trump pulled America out of the nuclear accord, Tehran has begun enriching uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels and increasing the size of its stockpile. However, US intelligence agencies and officials insist Iran has not begun an effort to build a nuclear weapon.

Meanwhile, Israel has threatened a major retaliatory strike over Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier this month, the second-such direct assault on Israel by Iran since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.