TORONTO – The federal government has revoked the citizenship of an Islamic extremist who masterminded a plot to bomb downtown Toronto in an effort to terrorize Canadians and cripple the economy.
A member of the so-called Toronto 18, Zakaria Amara was sentenced in 2010 to life in prison with no chance of parole until 2016 after admitting his role in the plan aimed in part at forcing Canadian soldiers to leave Afghanistan.
Following a National Post report Saturday saying Amara’s citizenship had been pulled, Defence Minister Jason Kenney sent a tweet describing him as a man who hated Canada so much that he “forfeited his own citizenship” by plotting to murder hundreds of Canadians.
Police thwarted the plot when they arrested Amara and 17 other people in the summer of 2006.
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In an agreed statement of facts, Crown lawyer Ione Jaffe told court that Amara planned to rent U-Haul trucks, pack them with explosives and detonate them via remote control in the Toronto area.
The Mississauga, Ont., man said the attack, which he planned over three consecutive days to maximize the panic, also involved bombing RCMP headquarters, nuclear-power plants and attacking Parliament.
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