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CBC News - Ottawa - Bomb plot suspect appears in court
One of three Ontario men who are suspects in what the RCMP are alleging is a domestic terrorist plot has been remanded into custody until Sept. 1 after appearing in an Ottawa courtroom.
Khurram Sher appeared in an Ottawa court on Friday on a charge related to what the RCMP say was a domestic terrorist plot. This photo shows Sher during an audition for the 2008 edition of popular reality show Canadian Idol. (YouTube)
Khurram Sher, 28, of London, Ont., made a brief court appearance Friday, a day after he was arrested and charged Thursday with conspiracy to knowingly facilitate a terrorist activity.
Two Ottawa men, Misbahuddin Ahmed, 26, and Hiva Alizadeh, 30, were arrested on Wednesday. They appeared in an Ottawa courtroom on Thursday facing the same charge.
Alizadeh is also charged with being in possession of an explosive substance with intent to harm and providing property or financial services for the benefit of a terrorist group.
RCMP Chief Supt. Serge Therriault described all three men during a Thursday press conference as being part of a conspiracy to commit "a violent terrorism attack."The men discussed specific targets in Canada, according to security sources CBC spoke with, including specific government buildings and transit systems, but didn't mention any of those targets by name.
Former senior CSIS officer Michel Juneau-Katsuya told CBC News his sources had said Parliament Hill was among the targets discussed. Juneau-Katsuya also suggested Montreal's transit system was a possible target because two of the men had roots in the city, and had lived and studied there. None of the targets was in the United States, sources said.
The RCMP's Therriault said part of the decision to make the arrests now was to prevent one of the suspects from providing financial support to terrorist counterparts abroad.
The RCMP investigation, dubbed Project Samosa, found evidence that one member of the group had been trained to construct electronic and explosive devices.
Alleged plan to build makeshift bombs
During their investigation, Therriault said, police seized more than 50 electronic circuit boards they say were designed specifically to remotely detonate improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
They also seized a vast quantity of terrorist literature, videos and manuals, Therriault said.
"This group posed a real and serious threat to the citizens of the National Capital Region and Canada's national security," he said.
The RCMP allege that the yearlong investigation turned up evidence that the three men conspired with three other men, whom they named as James Lara, Rizgar Alizadeh and Zakaria Mamosta (who Reuters reported are not in Canada), and other unnamed individuals in Canada, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Dubai to commit terrorism-related offences.
Suspects are educated professionals
All three suspects arrested are educated men pursuing professional careers. Police said Sher is a McGill medical graduate who travelled to Pakistan in 2006 to help with earthquake relief and also auditioned for the Canadian Idol singing competition in the past.
Ahmed worked as an X-ray technician at an Ottawa hospital and had a wife and child, while Alizadeh had studied to be an electrical engineer. All three men are Canadian citizens.
Their profiles are likely to raise concerns about homegrown radicalism, said security expert Eric Margolis, who said the roots of the radicalism is likely triggered by anger over the involvement of Western governments in countries such as Afghanistan.
One of three Ontario men who are suspects in what the RCMP are alleging is a domestic terrorist plot has been remanded into custody until Sept. 1 after appearing in an Ottawa courtroom.
Khurram Sher appeared in an Ottawa court on Friday on a charge related to what the RCMP say was a domestic terrorist plot. This photo shows Sher during an audition for the 2008 edition of popular reality show Canadian Idol. (YouTube)
Khurram Sher, 28, of London, Ont., made a brief court appearance Friday, a day after he was arrested and charged Thursday with conspiracy to knowingly facilitate a terrorist activity.
Two Ottawa men, Misbahuddin Ahmed, 26, and Hiva Alizadeh, 30, were arrested on Wednesday. They appeared in an Ottawa courtroom on Thursday facing the same charge.
Alizadeh is also charged with being in possession of an explosive substance with intent to harm and providing property or financial services for the benefit of a terrorist group.
RCMP Chief Supt. Serge Therriault described all three men during a Thursday press conference as being part of a conspiracy to commit "a violent terrorism attack."The men discussed specific targets in Canada, according to security sources CBC spoke with, including specific government buildings and transit systems, but didn't mention any of those targets by name.
Former senior CSIS officer Michel Juneau-Katsuya told CBC News his sources had said Parliament Hill was among the targets discussed. Juneau-Katsuya also suggested Montreal's transit system was a possible target because two of the men had roots in the city, and had lived and studied there. None of the targets was in the United States, sources said.
The RCMP's Therriault said part of the decision to make the arrests now was to prevent one of the suspects from providing financial support to terrorist counterparts abroad.
The RCMP investigation, dubbed Project Samosa, found evidence that one member of the group had been trained to construct electronic and explosive devices.
Alleged plan to build makeshift bombs
During their investigation, Therriault said, police seized more than 50 electronic circuit boards they say were designed specifically to remotely detonate improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
They also seized a vast quantity of terrorist literature, videos and manuals, Therriault said.
"This group posed a real and serious threat to the citizens of the National Capital Region and Canada's national security," he said.
The RCMP allege that the yearlong investigation turned up evidence that the three men conspired with three other men, whom they named as James Lara, Rizgar Alizadeh and Zakaria Mamosta (who Reuters reported are not in Canada), and other unnamed individuals in Canada, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Dubai to commit terrorism-related offences.
Suspects are educated professionals
All three suspects arrested are educated men pursuing professional careers. Police said Sher is a McGill medical graduate who travelled to Pakistan in 2006 to help with earthquake relief and also auditioned for the Canadian Idol singing competition in the past.
Ahmed worked as an X-ray technician at an Ottawa hospital and had a wife and child, while Alizadeh had studied to be an electrical engineer. All three men are Canadian citizens.
Their profiles are likely to raise concerns about homegrown radicalism, said security expert Eric Margolis, who said the roots of the radicalism is likely triggered by anger over the involvement of Western governments in countries such as Afghanistan.
