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rfmcdonaldThis isn't very impressive.
For the record, the group of alleged terrorists that Shaikh's associated with were the gang that gained international renown two years ago with reports of their plans to blow up Bay Street and CBC headquarters in Toronto, occupy Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and decapitate Prime Minister Harper, all part of a crusade against "Rome." Increasingly they've seemed more like fools than anything else; if they're manipulated fools in the bargain, well.
An RCMP agent who infiltrated an alleged homegrown terror cell testified yesterday he "felt bad" about playing a key role in helping recruit youths.
The testimony came as Mubin Shaikh recounted his role as a trainer at a so-called terrorist training camp, where leaders assessed the physical prowess and commitment to jihad of those in attendance, including four youths.
"I felt bad that because of my role, the consequence would be that these guys would be caught up in this case," said Shaikh, adding the youths were initially told the camp was for religious purposes.
"I just felt bad that I was there with everybody else."
The youths were among 18 people charged in 2006 for allegedly belonging to a cell plotting to detonate truck bombs. Charges have since been stayed against four adults and three youths.
The remaining youth was found guilty of terrorism-related offences in September, but his lawyers are seeking to have his charge stayed, alleging entrapment.
Defence counsel Mitchell Chernovsky and Faisal Mirza are arguing Shaikh committed criminal acts while he was an RCMP agent and acted as an instigator while at the camp in December 2005. At the time, they say, their client was an impressionable 17-year-old convert desperate for religious guidance.
But Crown prosecutors John Neander and Marco Mendicino say Shaikh was a confidential informer at the time, who was not tasked or given direction about what to do. He was, however, told not to break the law.
Court heard that while at the camp, Shaikh helped set up military-style activities, which included firearms training with a handgun brought by one of the alleged leaders.
He testified that he behaved like a "drill sergeant," encouraging the youths to work harder so they would be chosen for a second camp, and that he "emphasized the militant nature of the jihad."
When asked by Chernovsky if he played a "key role" in bringing the youth into the group, Shaikh said "yes." And when asked if he rejected the alleged ringleader's twisted version of Islam, Shaikh said he "passively" went along with it, never overtly denouncing terrorism.
But when questioned by Neander, Shaikh's role in recruiting the youth seemed less pivotal. "I wasn't about to blow my cover," said Shaikh. "I would've been pushed out of the circle and they would've pushed full steam ahead (with their plot)."
For the record, the group of alleged terrorists that Shaikh's associated with were the gang that gained international renown two years ago with reports of their plans to blow up Bay Street and CBC headquarters in Toronto, occupy Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and decapitate Prime Minister Harper, all part of a crusade against "Rome." Increasingly they've seemed more like fools than anything else; if they're manipulated fools in the bargain, well.
