In a joint forces operation, more than 400 Ontario police officers carried out raids in June 2006 that led to the arrests of the so-called Toronto 18. STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

Full story of ‘kids’ charged in ‘terror plot’ emerges as guilty verdict allows publication ban to be lifted

They were the sheep, the foot soldiers and the disciples. Easily manipulated and readily exploited. And pawns in an alleged terror plot.

With the conviction of one youth this week, the full story can now be told of all four youths originally charged with belonging to the homegrown terror cell known as the Toronto 18. It’s a tale that involves chilling wiretap intercepts, inane teenage banter and begs the question: How did these kids get wrapped up in one of Canada’s biggest terror cases?

In his testimony at the preliminary hearing and at the trial, the Crown’s star witness said the “kids” were peripheral figures who didn’t warrant close attention because they’d been kept on the “down low” of the group’s murderous machinations. So, he focused on the adult ringleaders who were engineering the deadly plot.

“It was obvious to me from Day 1 that I didn’t really have to keep too much of an eye on them,” testified police agent Mubin Shaikh, who infiltrated the group. “They were sheep … non-entities.”

But in a landmark decision Thursday, Justice John Sproat ruled one of those sheep, a naïve youth who “lacked street smarts,” was an “eager acolyte” led astray by an “extremely unsavoury” ringleader.

The judge recognized the youth, a convert to Islam who revered the ringleader as a “knowledgeable mentor,” was “easy to deceive or manipulate.” But he pointed out that as time passed, it would have been “inconceivable” for the youth not to have known what the group’s real motives were.

A winter camp that he attended in December 2005, complete with military-style exercises, jihadist rhetoric and speeches urging them to wage war, would have revealed the group’s true purpose – even if the leaders had billed it as a religious retreat. Yet rather than distance himself from the group, he fell deeper into it, stealing items for the group and attending a second training camp.

In other words, he didn’t need to know specifics about a terror plot brewing to be found guilty of participating in a terrorist group.

While the judge disagreed with Shaikh’s characterization of the youth on trial, Sproat said he displayed “a great number of the hallmarks of a truthful witness.”

Throughout the proceedings, there were chilling intercepts played in which the ringleaders discuss truck bombs, potential targets in downtown Toronto and the construction of a remote-control detonator. But none of these featured the youths.

Those that did feature all the youths, played during the preliminary, included silly teenage chatter about farting, getting high and having a threesome. One kid displayed youthful bravado when discussing the purchase of firearms and selecting a gang name from a list that included Sexy Sluts, Muslim Pimps and Mosquitoes.

There were also moments of absurdity, such as the revelation that the ringleader was so broke that he convinced a 15-year-old to donate his $20 weekly allowance.

Until now, the story of the youths netted in a mass arrest during the summer of 2006 remained partly untold because evidence heard in the preliminary was banned from publication.

Even after charges were dropped against three of them, the evidence could not be revealed, for fear it would prejudice the trial of the remaining youth.

But with Thursday’s conviction, the ban is lifted and the story can be told. (A ban still precludes identifying the remaining 10 adults, who have not yet been tried. Charges were stayed against four.)

DAYS BEFORE THE CAMP, one of the group’s leaders drew up a list titled, “Dealing with new recruits.” Scribbled underneath was: “Do not tell them anything – just give them jihadi da’wah, Give false name, Keep them on the down low.”

For the kids, who were among the “new recruits,” the camp was billed as a religious retreat. They were never told its true purpose was so that the “trainers,” one of whom was Shaikh, could assess their potential as jihadi warriors.

After all, the group’s leaders needed warriors to carry out a plan that included storming Parliament, beheading politicians and detonating fertilizer truck bombs at sites such as Toronto’s CBC building, the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Pickering Nuclear Power Plant, Shaikh testified.

A motley crew of individuals, aged between 15 and 42, attended the camp, which was held between Dec. 18 and 31 in a wooded area near Orillia. Many met there for the first time and only a select few were told why they had been invited.

The youths were high school friends from Scarborough. Because they were under 18 at the time they cannot be named. Instead, they will be referred to as the Partier, the Boy, the Friend and the Convert.

* The Partier was a “scrawny” 17-year-old who was described by his lawyer as a “party animal” with a penchant for girls and getting high. Overall, he was useless at the camp. He couldn’t be motivated to chop wood, do exercise and simply “wasn’t into it.” But the ringleader planned to “straighten him out,” testified Shaikh.
* The Boy was a “very frail little boy” of 15 who “shouldn’t have been there,” said Shaikh. He forged a letter about a bogus school trip so he could attend, but once there he was clearly out of his element, refusing to handle a 9-mm handgun.
* The Friend was the Partier’s good friend, and was also 17. He did what he was told, but lacked the zeal the camp’s trainers were looking for.
* The Convert was a 17-year-old who outshone the others. He was earnest, eager and hard working. His recent conversion to Islam resulted in being alienated from his family. He was desperate for religious guidance and the ringleader was happy to oblige. (This is the youth who was convicted Thursday.)

Court heard that because they had trekked off into the dead of winter without appropriate gear, the group’s leaders slept in vehicles with portable heaters, which suited them fine because it enabled them to privately discuss people’s skill levels.

The kids, however, were stuck sleeping in tents and often tasked with doing the grunt work, such as chopping wood, keeping the fire going and acting as sentries.

For the most part, they were a lazy bunch and not even good at stuff that didn’t require much skill, such as keeping watch over things – one kid burned the sole of his shoe because he got too close to the fire.

The Convert, however, was different. Shaikh testified the ringleader had remarked that the Convert’s skill at chopping wood made him the perfect candidate to behead the prime minister and his willingness to give his life for Islam made him an ideal suicide bomber.

All in attendance participated in an obstacle course, target practice, paintball war games and the making of a video intended for recruitment purposes.

During paintball, they wore fatigues and mimicked the Mujahideen in Chechnya, with their games resembling the Chechen rebellion against Russia. Often, the ringleader would shout words of encouragement: “Don’t you have any honour in your religion? Fight them!”

While the presence of a handgun, taken up for firearms training, may have initially excited some of the youths, they were “freaked out” when it was fired, said Shaikh. The only youth he could remember who fired the gun was the Convert.

When a video camera appeared, people were told to “play along,” said Shaikh. Playing along included shouting “God is Great” and waving a black flag commonly associated with terrorism.

Shaikh said the kids weren’t told the video was for recruitment purposes and was to be handed out to some imams in Toronto. A version of this video, which can be seen on thestar.com, ended up on the laptop of British extremist Aabid Khan, who was convicted last month of being a terrorist facilitator with international connections.

With the exception of the Convert, who excelled at the activities, the kids weren’t the kind of jihadi warriors the ringleader had hoped for. On one occasion, the sound of a wolf or a dog howling sent them scampering into a tent, where they huddled in fear.

But they could still prove useful for the ringleader, who was down to his last $18, he said, and was desperate to finance his scheme. So, he cajoled the Boy into agreeing to donate his weekly allowance of $20 to the group. Shaikh said he didn’t know if the kid ever paid up.

Even if the kids had originally been kept out of the loop, it would have been clear when the ringleader declared, “We’re not officially Al Qaeda but we share their principles and methods.”

In the final days, the youths were told by the ringleader to “Keep this quiet, don’t tell people, don’t be talking about the camp.”

THE YOUTHS MAY NOT have been warriors by camp’s end, but the ringleader still found use for them and appointed them to a Procurement Unit.

In one intercept, the ringleader boasts that the Convert is “so freaking professional” at stealing and has become “addicted.” The Convert’s skill is such that the ringleader explains he’s running out of space to store the loot.

In February, when the Partier and the Convert are caught in Canadian Tire shoplifting four camping knives and forks, an LED clip light, an axe and a machete, the ringleader instructed his unit to back off on doing “BLTs,” which was a code word for theft. A month later, the Convert was caught shoplifting a box of condoms.

In a videotaped police statement after his arrest on terror charges, the Convert denied stealing for the group, saying he took the walkie-talkies because they were “wicked.” He could sell them and also use them because they’re a cheaper alternative to owning a cellphone.

Sproat noted in his ruling that “it makes little sense that (the Convert) would steal multiple walkie-talkies for personal use or to make a few dollars. It makes much more sense that he would steal for a purpose associated with (the ringleader).”

At a second training camp in May, which took place at the Rockwood Conservation Area, near Guelph, of the youths, only the Convert and the Friend attended, accompanied by a buddy of theirs named Sahl Syed.

Syed testified nothing nefarious took place, saying they spent most of their time paddling in an inflatable boat, hiking through the hills and chilling by the campfire.

But Sproat noted in his ruling that while most of the activities were recreational, Syed was sufficiently concerned with what he’d seen on the trip to speak with a teacher about whether he should notify the authorities.

Weeks later, the four youths were arrested alongside 14 adults for belonging to a terrorist group after a lengthy, and costly, investigation that involved both national and international agencies.

FOLLOWING THURSDAY’S verdict, Shaikh still stuck to his guns.

“I don’t believe that (the Convert) is a terrorist,” he said. “I don’t believe he should’ve been put through what he was put through, but that’s our system.”

As this case winds its way through the courts, and the new anti-terror law is tested, he said he hopes to see the legislation fine-tuned so that guys like the Partier, the Boy, the Friend and the Convert aren’t in the same category as the ringleader.

“From Day 1, I used the word sheep,” he told the Star. “And that’s what they were. Sheep.”

Isabel Teotonio
Toronto Star - Staff Reporter

Canada’s first convicted terrorist was a naive 17-year-old Muslim convert who was easily manipulated as well as lacking education and street smarts. But in a landmark decision yesterday a judge ruled there was overwhelming evidence he belonged to a homegrown terrorist group.

In a Brampton court on Sept. 25, 2008, Justice John Sproat reads from his ruling convicting Canada’s first terrorist. The now 20-year-old was accused of attending two terrorist training camps and stealing items for the Toronto 18.

The young man, accused of attending two terrorist training camps and stealing items for the so-called Toronto 18, displayed no emotion when the verdict was read in a Brampton court.

“(The youth) clearly understood that the camps were training for a terrorist purpose,” said Justice John Sproat as he read from his 94-page decision. “He also understood that contributing materials to be used at the camp enhanced the ability of the group to conduct the training.”

Prominent in the judge’s decision was the testimony of paid police agent Mubin Shaikh, who had come under attack during the trial from Crown prosecutors when they accused their own star witness of fabricating evidence to protect the youth.

But Sproat said Shaikh was credible, adding, “I found him to be a truthful and generally reliable witness” who “exhibited a great number of the hallmarks of a truthful witness.”

“I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that a terror group existed,” he said, disagreeing with the defence that an alleged terror plot amounted to “musings and fantasies” dreamed up by a deluded ringleader who planned to storm Parliament Hill and behead the prime minister.

The ringleader, arrested among 14 adults and four youths in the summer of 2006, was not a “hapless fanatic who posed no risk,” he said.

Members of the group are accused of ordering fertilizer to build truck bombs, constructing a remote-control detonator and scouting a safe house to store weapons and harbour terrorists. The youth, whose conviction marks the first decision under Canada’s new anti-terrorism laws, was not alleged to have played a role in the bomb conspiracy.

The courtroom was filled with supporters from the Muslim community, including relatives of the adult co-accused, who were left weeping and wondering what the verdict means for their loved ones.

Defence lawyer Raymond Motee, who represents one of the adults, cautioned against jumping to any conclusions about the implications for the others.

“We are dealing with a brand-new law and this case is merely the first guidepost along the way,” said Motee. “Legally, this verdict has essentially no effect on our case. These are completely separate proceedings and our trial judge is not bound by any ruling in this case.”

What it all means for the youth is more court time. Defence lawyers Mitchell Chernovsky and Faisal Mirza have filed an abuse of process application to be heard Dec. 15.

They say Shaikh committed illegal acts as an agent and, essentially, entrapped their client. If that motion succeeds, the charges could be stayed. If it fails, they will consider appealing the decision.

The defence lawyers say Shaikh committed a crime when he handled an illegal firearm at a terrorist training camp in December 2005 and taught participants, including the youth, how to use it. They also point out that Shaikh, who acted as a trainer, was instrumental in deciding who would be promoted to a second training camp.

Because this is a precedent-setting decision, defence lawyers and Crown prosecutors refused to speculate on the sentence the youth faces, but earlier the Crown said it would seek an adult sentence.

The verdict is a victory for prosecutors because the case appeared to be unravelling when charges were stayed against three youths and four adults and supporters of the accused men said they were provoked by two undercover agents.

During the trial, two starkly different portraits emerged of the youth, who is now 20. One was of a teenaged jihadi who attended two training camps: one in December 2005, complete with military-style exercises, firearms training and speeches exhorting participants to wage war on “Rome” – an allusion to the West; and another in May 2006, where attendees made a mock jihadi video. Prosecutors also said the youth stole items for the camps, including walkie-talkies and other outdoor gear.

The other image was of a troubled youngster, alienated from his Hindu family for converting to Islam, who went winter camping because he was told it was a religious retreat.

In his decision, the judge noted the youth lacked “street smarts” or maturity, which made him easy to deceive, and had only a rudimentary understanding of world politics and international conflicts. But the judge ruled it was “inconceivable” for him not to have known the true nature of the camp by the end.

Court heard that at the camp, the ringleader delivered a jihadist speech, saying, “We’re here to kick it off man, we’re here to get the rewards of everybody that’s gonna come after us.”

“Whether we get arrested, killed or tortured, our mission is greater than just individuals, this has to be done, Rome has to be defeated,” the ringleader says in a videotape made for recruitment purposes.

Shaikh, who has long maintained the youth’s innocence, made a surprise appearance at the courthouse yesterday and told reporters he disagreed with the verdict.

“I don’t believe that (youth) is a terrorist,” said Shaikh, who testified that the youth was a “sheep” and “non-entity” who unknowingly got caught up in a deadly conspiracy. “He was not informed of the inner plans by the inner circle.”

He also said he believes Canada is a target for terrorists and susceptible to homegrown terror cells. “The threat is real … Just because bombs haven’t gone off doesn’t mean we should be less vigilant.”

-The Star
Isabel Teotonio - Staff Reporter

Mr. Prime Minster of Canada: My Name is Mohammad Al Mallees and not Osama Bin laden

I promised in my previous writing to stop accusing the whole system hoping to encourage the honest leadership inside the Canadian system to control their criminal members, but unfortunately, the criminals inside the leadership are much stronger than the honest ones. The criminals inside the Canadian leadership continued to pressure my children nakedly ignoring all my complaints pushing me again to write about the whole system.

What is their goal? I don’t really know. Anyways, when I accuse the system, I mean the criminals inside the leadership who are perpetrating crimes against Muslims inside and outside Canada, and I don’t mean at all any honest member of the leadership.

When the Canadian security and the police ignore the complaints regarding the repetitive crimes against Canadian Muslim children, it is very clear evidence that the Canadian security and the police leadership have become murders who kill blindly and in cold blood. Their failure in Afghanistan made them crazy like an injured cowboy who wants to kill whoever belongs to the race or religion of his enemy.

Dear Mr. Prime Minister of Canada, I would like to remind you and your security and police leadership that my name is Mohammad Al Mallees and not Mr. Osama Bin Laden. Even though there are some things in common between me and Mr. Bin Laden and millions of other Muslims such as the facts that we all agree that the resistance of every occupier is legal, we are all love Islam and Arabs, and we are proud to be Muslims and Arabs, but other than that we are different.

So if Canada failed to defeat Mr. Bin Laden, Canada doesn’t have the right to hold the Canadian Muslims including their kids as hostages and terrorise them daily.

Mr. Prime Minister of Canada: I advise you to withdraw from Afghanistan immediately because sooner or later you will withdraw and the longer you wait the more body bags you’ll be receiving. Keeping the losses at a minimum is better for Canada. If you don’t care about the losses, then send your children to the front lines in Afghanistan and show us that you love Canada even if your children will come back in plastic bags.

Mr. Prime Minister of Canada! If you are worried about terrorists, I and millions of Arabs and Muslims are ready to protect Canada from terrorists. I am not playing a political game by offering myself and millions of Muslims to protect Canada, but I am stating to you the truth and I am saying this based on logic as follows:

First let us define what the word “terrorism” means. According to the dictionary terrorism means: “The threat of violence against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.”

Based on this clear definition we can say the following:

1-     When a Canadian citizen phones the police, as was the case today January 11, 2008. The phone was regarding a principal and a vice principal who are ignoring the complaints about repetitive acts of terror against a ten year old girl such as hitting her on her head perpetrated by a group of kids who belong to the same race of the vice principal. Then the police officer asks that Canadian citizen, who is the girl’s father, mockingly the following: “Are you allowed to enter the school?” and then the father replies “No, but your question is irrelevant because I did not ask you to let me enter the school. I am complaining about a crime against a ten year old girl who was hit on her head while the school is covering the crime,” and then the police says, “being not allowed to enter the school answers everything,” and then the police hangs up on that citizen, then in that scenario, that Canadian citizen has the right to say to the Prime Minister of Canada and to his security and police leadership the following: If you are real men, go and challenge the fighters in Afghanistan who are sending back your soldiers in plastic bags. When the Canadian Board of Education plays a dirty game, without any investigation, and doesn’t allow the father and the mother of a ten years girl to enter the school, and keeps the girl under tremendous pressure with repetitive aggression against her under the supervision of the most aggressive principal and vice principal, it means the system is indirectly murdering honest Muslim children as a form of revenge for its failure in its aggression against the Islamic world.

2-      When the Canadian security system uses the worst people in each community to work with them against the Canadian Muslim citizens, then the Canadian security system is the source of terrorism.

3-     If a country is occupied against international laws causing the civilians to be threatened and live in terror, then the civilians have the right to fight back until they clean their land from the last occupying individual.

4-     In the case of September 11th, the United States has the right to complain to the international police, and submit evidence against any accused individuals. Then the international police would investigate and arrest any suspects and set a trial where the accused have the right to defend themselves. But to occupy a country, kill ten of thousands of civilians, and terrorise Muslims everywhere, is a crime, which must be stopped.

5-     If the Canadian security system is coordinating with the Board of Education to terrorise Muslim children, it means the Canadian security system is practicing terror and it deserves to be tagged internationally as a terrorist system.

The Muslim communities in North America and in Europe are going to be victims of horrible massacres perpetrated by the security systems of these countries sooner of later. The behaviour of these security systems is confirming this fact. These security systems are using the Churches, the Education systems, the well-organized aggressive communities, especially the most fanatic religious Blacks who are well organized by the security system and their criminal churches, the gangs, the companies, and every public institution to perpetrate such massacres in the future. One of the churches announced its readiness to terrorise Muslims, and said: “Million to fight Mohammad”

These security systems are hoping to finish their tasks in Iraq, Palestine, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, and the rest of the Arabic and Islamic world in order to start executing their massacres against the Muslim communities in North America and in Europe. So how can we stop these massacres from happening?

Fortunately, the whole world hates the criminal policy of the United States and its followers. So working with the international community is the only solution to defeat the source of terrorism of the United States and its followers. But how can we defeat the source of terrorism?

As Muslim civilian citizens in North America and in Europe, we have no choice other than writing to the public to generate public awareness against their criminal systems. By doing that we help the society to build new security system, which is fair and just. Even if the current criminal systems slay us one by one, we have to stick by our pen because it is impossible to fight them while they are misleading the whole society.

If the majority of the Canadian society does not become aware of the crimes of its system, we will never have the support of the society. There is no doubt that complaining to international organizations such as the United Nations to fight with us and to pressure every company around the world, which belongs to these criminal systems, is the best solution.

Muslims around the world are slaughtered daily by these criminal systems, so it is no surprise that they treat us as hostages and terrorise us, especially our children without any mercy. One day the sun of justice will rise, and we will become independent with the strength we need to protect our rights. At that time we will show them what is the meaning of justice. At that time we will investigate every system member without touching the children, the women, and the elderly.

If some Muslim victims who lost their control after they lost their loved ones because of the United States’ and its followers’ massacres, and they perpetrated massive killing such as September 11th as revenge, we apologize to the whole world, and we request from the whole world to stop killing Muslims around the world in order to avoid generating more Muslim victims who might lose their control and perpetrate reversal crimes against civilians similar to the crimes of Israel and United States and their followers.

Even though responding to terrorism with terrorism is not legal under international law, the party that commences is much more to blame. Focusing on the root of the problems is the only solution.

I would like to say to the Primes Minister of Canada that today January 11, 2008 a crime happened inside a Canadian school against a ten-year girl. When the principal and the vice principal knew that I was going to call the police and take the issue to court, they changed the entire story by using some lying students, and the police cooperated with them nakedly.

On Monday January 14, my wife and I are going to proceed in the court against the principal, vice principal, and the police regarding this naked crime. If the justice system will be influenced by the criminal security system and not achieve justice, I will ask the international community to rescue this honest child by all means including an investigation by the United Nations. The degree of criminality of the Canadian police and the Board of Education is unbelievable. They are not human beings at all. They are full of criminality, and they don’t respect any law at all. They do not know the meaning of humanity.

I have written many letters to the Board of Education, but all of them were ignored while my daughter is terrorised daily. If the justice system will ignore my complaint, I will distribute all of my letters to the public and around the world in order to achieve justice.

I challenge the Canadian system to put the Toronto District School Board, the principal, and the vice principal with the presence of the media. If that happens, the whole world will spit in the faces of the leadership of the Canadian security system.