BRAMPTON, Ont. – Shareef Abdelhaleem initially objected to details of the "Toronto 18" terrorism plot, but when he figured there was money to be made from the endeavour, his attitude shifted, a judge heard Monday.
On the first day of Abdelhaleem’s trial in Brampton Superior Court, star Crown witness Shaher Elsohemy described a series of conversations between himself and Abdelhaleem in the spring of 2006, just months before police swooped in to arrest members of the Toronto 18 for allegedly planning to detonate truck bombs in southern Ontario.
Abdelhaleem, 34, is charged with participating in a terrorist group and intending to cause an explosion. He pleaded not guilty to both counts.
Abdelhaleem was initially unsure as to whether Canadian targets were appropriate for the terrorist plot, but became energized when he realized the opportunity to profit from an attack on the Toronto Stock Exchange, Elsohemy told the court.
"He described it as, people made money from the attacks on Sept. 11," testified Elsohemy, who worked as a police informant and would ultimately negotiate a multimillion-dollar witness protection deal with RCMP.
Abdelhaleem later spoke with an acquaintance whom he hoped could finance stock market purchases in advance of the bombing, Elsohemy told the court.
Elsohemy also referred to a meeting in April 2006 with Abdelhaleem and plot ringleader Zakaria Amara, who pleaded guilty last year, at a Canadian Tire gas station where Amara worked.
During that discussion, and a subsequent dinner at a local restaurant, Amara unveiled his plan to use rented U-Haul trucks to detonate bombs at three targets: the Toronto Stock Exchange, a military base outside of Toronto and a Canadian Security Intelligence Service site, Elsohemy testified.
In an intercepted recording of the gas station conversation played for the court, the three men laugh as they interchangeably discuss girls’ miniskirts, Amara’s job and suicide bombing.
Elsohemy also testified that following a suggestion from CSIS officials, he "dangled" the possibility that he had access to bomb-making chemicals through family members – saying Amara took the bait, asking Elsohemy to obtain quantities of ammonium nitrate and nitric acid.
The idea was that "if I can acquire these chemicals, it would shorten the time period" for when the terrorist attacks could occur, Elsohemy told the judge.
Before becoming a police informant, Elsohemy was a friend of Abdelhaleem’s, having attended an Islamic school in Mississauga, Ont., run by Abdelhaleem’s father.
Elsohemy – originally from Toronto but with family in Egypt – worked as a flight attendant for Air Canada for several years before he was stopped at the U.S. border for undetermined reasons in 2005, and his status with the company was put on hold.
That incident prompted his first meeting with CSIS officials, during which Elsohemy suggested he might have been targeted because of his association with Abdelhaleem’s father’s Islamic school.
The CSIS agent indicated he was "concerned" about Abdelhaleem and asked Elsohemy to get in touch if he saw or heard anything untoward.
Weeks later, Abdelhaleem began speaking with increasing frequency of his desire to engage in jihad, Elsohemy testified, referring to an online chat in which Abdelhaleem talked about returning to Egypt to perform the "ultimate duty."
Elsohemy said he began to keep in regular contact with CSIS and RCMP officials after that point.
Defence lawyer William Naylor has suggested publicly that Abdelhaleem was entrapped.
For his part, Abdelhaleem, with a shaved head, full beard and blue dress shirt, listened to Monday’s proceedings without expression.
He is the first adult to stand trial in connection with the alleged plot and has elected to by tried by a judge alone.
Four members of the group have pleaded guilty. One youth was found guilty and charges were dropped or stayed against seven others. Five others will face trial in March.
The trial continues Tuesday.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.