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June 11, 2008
Bomb-laden Trucks Planned in Toronto Terror Plot
By Gurmukh
Singh
Toronto
A Muslim youth who became police informer in what is described as
Canada's first Al-Qaeda-linked terror plot told a court Friday that
he was picked up by the country's spy agency in 2005 to infiltrate
the alleged terror cell.
In a major operation in June 2006, the police had unearthed what
later came to be known as Toronto-18 terror plot - because of the
alleged involvement of 18 Al-Qaeda-linked persons to it.
The 18 plotters had allegedly planned to blow up the commercial hub
of Toronto, and storm the nation's parliament in Ottawa to take
leaders hostage and behead the prime minister.
To carry out the plot, they had allegedly undergone training in use
of firearms at a rural camp in northern Ontario in Dec 2005.
Of these 18, 10 are in jail and four on bail. The trial of three has
been stayed.
The trial the 18th person is now under way.
Mubin Shaikh, who blew the cover on the alleged plot by infiltrating
it at the behest of the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency (CSIS),
told the trial court Tuesday that by the time he infiltrated the
alleged terror cell in Nov 2005, the plotters had already selected
targets.
The plotters had also decided on using ammunition-laden truck bombs,
instead of A-47s, to cause maximum destruction, he said.
He testified that the plotters soon spilled the beans after he
infiltrated their group at an information session on security
certificates (which are issued by the government for immigration
proceedings for removal of non-Canadians from Canada) on Nov 27,
2005.
He said they quickly `recruited' him and told about their upcoming
training camp.
Two days later, he said, the ringleader and his associate told him
the targets of plot - power grids, offices of the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS),
the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Toronto, and
parliament in Ottawa.
Because of his background in military training, the police informant
told the court, the ringleader chose him to train the plotters in
firearms at a rural camp.
"He (ringleader) stated to me his objectives, he listed his
targets," he testified.
Since the CSIS and CBC offices are on that same Toronto street, the
ringleader told him, ``Two birds with one bomb.''
The police informant also told the court that he twice went shopping
for guns with the ringleader even as he kept informing the police
about their daily activities.
IANS
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June 11, 2008
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