Sol Invictus
04-14-2010, 04:01 AM
April 13, 2010 | Canoe.ca
BRAMPTON, Ont. - One man and his helpers. That’s what the trial of three alleged terrorists - who pleaded not guilty Monday - boils down to, Crown attorney Iona Jaffe said in her opening arguments.
Fahim Ahmad, 25, Asad Ansari, 25, and Steven Chand, 29, sat quietly in the prisoner’s box of a Brampton, Ont. courtroom while Jaffe summarized the allegations against them, each charged with willingly participating in a terrorist group that was dismantled during a series of Toronto-area raids in June 2006.
“Very simply put, this trial is about a man named Fahim Ahmad who, the Crown alleges, led the terrorist group and about some of the men who helped him,” Jaffe told the jury of five women and seven men.
Ahmad is also charged with instructing other people to carry out activity for a terrorist group and importing firearms. Chand is charged with counselling someone to commit fraud.
The case dates back to August 2005 when border officers seized three loaded semi-automatic handguns that were purchased at an Ohio gun shop and were being smuggled into Canada by Yasin Mohamed and Ali Dirie. The car they were driving had been rented in Toronto using Ahmad’s credit card.
During a search of Ahmad’s apartment in June 2006, police found camouflage clothing, prison letters from Dirie, a machete and a fourth handgun gun purchased from the same Ohio shop, Jaffe said. Its bullets would be found in the trunk of a tree at an alleged terrorist training camp in Washago, Ont., she said.
Police informant Mubin Shaikh testified that on Nov. 27, 2005, under the direction of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, he attended the Taj Banquet Hall in northwest Toronto where he met Ahmad and others for the first time.
“It was clear to me that Fahim was definitely the leader of the group,” Shaikh said.
Ahmad suggested he would have a training camp and “wanted to bring people to a level of readiness whereby they could conduct ... terrorist acts,” Shaikh said.
At another meeting soon after, Ahmad discussed his targets: “Critical infrastructures, so power grids ... nuclear plants, Parliament, military sites,” Shaikh said.
Ahmad said there were “a couple of guys” he had sent to the U.S. to bring guns back who got caught, Shaikh said.
Shaikh arrived at the Washago camp as a “trainer” Dec. 18, 2005 and remained there for nearly two weeks, he said.
Later, during a wiretapped conversation, Ahmad said: “You can’t do Jihad without money” and that he needed $20,000 to pay “the weapons guy,” Jaffe alleged.
Referring to another intercepted conversation, Jaffe quoted Ahmad as referring to the London terror bombings before saying, “Our thing, it’s much, much greater on the scale. You do it once and you make sure they never recover again.”
The trial continues Tuesday.
tamara.cherry@sunmedia.ca
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2010/04/13/13563636-qmi.html?cid=rssnewscrime
BRAMPTON, Ont. - One man and his helpers. That’s what the trial of three alleged terrorists - who pleaded not guilty Monday - boils down to, Crown attorney Iona Jaffe said in her opening arguments.
Fahim Ahmad, 25, Asad Ansari, 25, and Steven Chand, 29, sat quietly in the prisoner’s box of a Brampton, Ont. courtroom while Jaffe summarized the allegations against them, each charged with willingly participating in a terrorist group that was dismantled during a series of Toronto-area raids in June 2006.
“Very simply put, this trial is about a man named Fahim Ahmad who, the Crown alleges, led the terrorist group and about some of the men who helped him,” Jaffe told the jury of five women and seven men.
Ahmad is also charged with instructing other people to carry out activity for a terrorist group and importing firearms. Chand is charged with counselling someone to commit fraud.
The case dates back to August 2005 when border officers seized three loaded semi-automatic handguns that were purchased at an Ohio gun shop and were being smuggled into Canada by Yasin Mohamed and Ali Dirie. The car they were driving had been rented in Toronto using Ahmad’s credit card.
During a search of Ahmad’s apartment in June 2006, police found camouflage clothing, prison letters from Dirie, a machete and a fourth handgun gun purchased from the same Ohio shop, Jaffe said. Its bullets would be found in the trunk of a tree at an alleged terrorist training camp in Washago, Ont., she said.
Police informant Mubin Shaikh testified that on Nov. 27, 2005, under the direction of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, he attended the Taj Banquet Hall in northwest Toronto where he met Ahmad and others for the first time.
“It was clear to me that Fahim was definitely the leader of the group,” Shaikh said.
Ahmad suggested he would have a training camp and “wanted to bring people to a level of readiness whereby they could conduct ... terrorist acts,” Shaikh said.
At another meeting soon after, Ahmad discussed his targets: “Critical infrastructures, so power grids ... nuclear plants, Parliament, military sites,” Shaikh said.
Ahmad said there were “a couple of guys” he had sent to the U.S. to bring guns back who got caught, Shaikh said.
Shaikh arrived at the Washago camp as a “trainer” Dec. 18, 2005 and remained there for nearly two weeks, he said.
Later, during a wiretapped conversation, Ahmad said: “You can’t do Jihad without money” and that he needed $20,000 to pay “the weapons guy,” Jaffe alleged.
Referring to another intercepted conversation, Jaffe quoted Ahmad as referring to the London terror bombings before saying, “Our thing, it’s much, much greater on the scale. You do it once and you make sure they never recover again.”
The trial continues Tuesday.
tamara.cherry@sunmedia.ca
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2010/04/13/13563636-qmi.html?cid=rssnewscrime