hulaku
09-04-2009, 03:51 AM
OTTAWA, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- A 23-year-old Canadian man was sentenced 14 years in prison Thursday for his part in a bomb plot in 2006 to attack downtown Toronto in protest of Canada's mission in Afghanistan.
Saad Khalid is a member of the so-called "Toronto 18," a group of terror suspects who plotted a conspiracy two years ago to bomb such sites as the Toronto Stock Exchange, the headquarters of Canada's intelligence agency and a military base.
Police busted the plot after receiving a clue from an informant. Khalid was arrested June 2, 2006 as he and an alleged accomplice unloaded what they thought was more than a tonne of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, an explosive agent. Sixteen other suspects in the Toronto area were arrested on the same day.
Each of the accused was charged with terrorism-related offenses. However, charges against seven of the accused were later stayed.
In May, an unidentified 20-year-old man was sentenced to a 30- month jail term in connection with the case. He became the first person to be convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act that Ottawa passed after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S.. Khalid was the second.
During his trial in Brampton, Ontario, Khalid pleaded guilty tonne count of participating in a terror plot with the intention of causing an explosion. He is the only suspect in the case to plead guilty so far.
On Thursday Ontario Superior Court Justice Bruce Durno said he accepted Khalid was not the leader of the group but his degree of responsibility "remains fairly high." However he credited Khalid with seven years for time already served in prison, leaving him only another seven years to stay jailed.
Khalid moved to Canada from Pakistan when he was 8. He said his group's act was not out of hate for Canada but to force Canada to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
The bomb plot shocked Canadians, who saw this as the first time that local terrorists were found in the country.
The trials of other suspects in the case will begin next year.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-09/04/content_11994914.htm
Saad Khalid is a member of the so-called "Toronto 18," a group of terror suspects who plotted a conspiracy two years ago to bomb such sites as the Toronto Stock Exchange, the headquarters of Canada's intelligence agency and a military base.
Police busted the plot after receiving a clue from an informant. Khalid was arrested June 2, 2006 as he and an alleged accomplice unloaded what they thought was more than a tonne of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, an explosive agent. Sixteen other suspects in the Toronto area were arrested on the same day.
Each of the accused was charged with terrorism-related offenses. However, charges against seven of the accused were later stayed.
In May, an unidentified 20-year-old man was sentenced to a 30- month jail term in connection with the case. He became the first person to be convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Act that Ottawa passed after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S.. Khalid was the second.
During his trial in Brampton, Ontario, Khalid pleaded guilty tonne count of participating in a terror plot with the intention of causing an explosion. He is the only suspect in the case to plead guilty so far.
On Thursday Ontario Superior Court Justice Bruce Durno said he accepted Khalid was not the leader of the group but his degree of responsibility "remains fairly high." However he credited Khalid with seven years for time already served in prison, leaving him only another seven years to stay jailed.
Khalid moved to Canada from Pakistan when he was 8. He said his group's act was not out of hate for Canada but to force Canada to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
The bomb plot shocked Canadians, who saw this as the first time that local terrorists were found in the country.
The trials of other suspects in the case will begin next year.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-09/04/content_11994914.htm