A US judge has agreed to delay the terror trial of a former Sydney resident until after the US presidential election after it was claimed "virulent anti-Muslim rhetoric" could dash his chances of an impartial jury.
Asher Khan, 21, accused of using the help of an Australian Islamic State recruiter to fly from Sydney to Turkey with the plan to cross into Syria to join the terror group, was scheduled to stand trial in Houston, Texas, on September 27.
The US presidential and congressional elections will be held on November 8.
Terrorism has been a key issue of the election, with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at one point calling for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States".
"The court finds that the ends of justice served by this delay outweigh the interests of the public and the defendant to a speedier trial," US District Court Judge Lynn Hughes wrote in his order to re-schedule the trial to December 13.
Khan faces life in prison if convicted of charges including conspiring to provide material support to IS and conspiring to commit murder in a foreign country.
The university student was living with family in Sydney in 2013 and 2014 when he allegedly began communicating with Australian "ISIL foreign fighter facilitator" Mohamed Zuhbi.
Khan allegedly flew from Sydney to Turkey in February 2014, but was "duped" by his family into returning to Texas with a story his mother was critically ill, prosecutors alleged.
Khan's lawyer, Thomas Berg, told the judge the "prospect of selecting an impartial jury is daunting enough in a terrorism case but this close upon the general election in November, with some candidates engaging in virulent anti-Muslim rhetoric and unmitigated bellicosity about ISIS/ISIL, jury selection seems problematic".
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