‘Toronto 18’ leader apologizes to Canadians

BRAMPTON, Ont. – A clean-cut and evidently humbled Zakaria Amara issued an open apology to Canadians on Thursday as Crown and defence lawyers made their final sentencing submissions before a Brampton Superior Court judge.

As the confessed leader of the foiled "Toronto 18" terrorism plot, Amara acknowledged most Canadians would "never forgive" his actions but expressed hope he may one day redeem himself.

"I can only hope that when all of you, Muslim and non-Muslim, witness the type of man I will one day make out of myself and the type of activities I’ll be involved in, then you will perhaps contemplate accepting me once more into the fold," said the soft-spoken 24-year-old.

The Crown is seeking a life sentence for Amara, while the defence is asking for a term of 18 to 20 years.

The sentence will be handed down Monday.

Amara told the judge he became "ideologically locked" into a position of extremism and isolated from broader society when he began plotting to bomb key targets in southern Ontario, but said his time in prison exposed him to people who "challenged and confronted" his views.

"I became friends with a Jewish inmate who was the first to greet me when I entered the range," Amara said. "He once told me that had we been living in Palestine we would have probably killed each other and died failing to realize what good friends we would have made if only we had talked."

Amara pleaded guilty in October to participating in a terrorist group that planned attacks intended to "cripple" Canada. The scheme, planned for late 2006, involved detonating powerful truck bombs at the Toronto Stock Exchange, the CSIS regional office in Toronto and at an Ontario military base.

A faction of the group also talked of storming Parliament.

Defence lawyer Michael Lacy told Justice Bruce Durno that since his arrest, Amara has become a changed man, having gained "genuine insight" and expressed "genuine remorse" over his actions.

He asked the court to take into consideration Amara’s guilty plea and his use of Thursday’s forum to advance a message of peace rather than extremism.

Amara broke down in tears at one point when Lacy read a letter from his wife into the record, in which Nada Farooq said the couple’s four-year-old daughter "prays every night that she gets to have her dad home."

The hearing continues this afternoon.