Star witness describes plan hatched by accused in suburban restaurant to cash in on terrorIt was after midnight in a Mississauga restaurant when Shareef Abdelhaleem had a eureka moment. Abdelhaleem and two other men – one of them an undercover police agent – had been discussing an audacious bomb plot that would target buildings in downtown Toronto and a military base off Highway 401.
Even though Abdelhaleem initially had challenged the "Islamic correctness" of a potentially deadly terrorist plot, he piped up in an excited voice and threw his keys on the table. Maybe money could be made on the stock market, said the computer engineer who earned a six-figure salary and drove a BMW. "He described it as people made money from the attacks on Sept. 11," recalled the police agent Shaher Elsohemy on Monday, testifying for the first time on the opening day of Abdelhaleem's trial.
The Crown's star witness in this case said Abdelhaleem went on to say that, had people known about the attacks on the U.S. earlier, they could have played the stock market and made money. "The rest of the discussion was about how to profit off an attack on the stock exchange," said Elsohemy, recounting their talk in the early hours of April 8, 2006.
Elsohemy, who came out of witness protection to testify against his former friend, told the Brampton court that Abdelhaleem also told him he planned to ask someone to act as an investor so he could buy stocks. Days later, when Abdelhaleem was in hospital recovering from heart surgery and on morphine, he told Elsohemy he was committed to the plot because "the Americans ... are killing a million children."
Abdelhaleem, the first adult to stand trial of the so-called Toronto 18 terror group busted in the summer of 2006, stared at Elsohemy as he entered the courtroom from a side door, flanked by officers. The 34-year-old accused Mississauga man squinted his eyes, lowering his glasses to the tip of his nose to get a better look at the witness. During his testimony, expected to last all week, Elsohemy kept his gaze on counsel and appeared to avoid looking at the prisoner box.
In addition to his testimony, court also heard electronic intercepts between Elsohemy, Abdelhaleem and the third man at the Mississauga restaurant – Zakaria Amara, mastermind of the bomb plot – many of them recorded at the Canadian Tire gas bar where Amara worked.
Abdelhaleem is alleged to have used Elsohemy to set up the purchase of three tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, destined for truck bombs targeting the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Front St. offices of Canada's spy agency and a military base off Highway 401. Abdelhaleem, expected to testify in his own defence, is charged with participating in a terrorist group and intending to cause an explosion. He pleaded not guilty to both counts.
Elsohemy testified he developed a "strong" friendship with Abdelhaleem and frequented an Islamic school in Mississauga. The two vacationed together, taking a trip to Morocco in 2005. But shortly after returning, they had an argument that strained their friendship.
In December 2005, he was approached by agents with Canada's spy agency about Abdelhaleem. Elsohemy co-operated with authorities and, as the bomb plot began to take shape, he started working for the RCMP, which paid him $4.1 million for his work. Abdelhaleem introduced Amara to Elsohemy, who had a degree in agricultural sciences. The agent also told Abdelhaleem that his uncle owned a huge chemical plant. It was a matter of time before Amara placed orders with Elsohemy for nitric acid and ammonium nitrate.
Outside court, Abdelhaleem's lawyer, William Naylor, told reporters he believes his client was entrapped, with Elsohemy paid handsomely for it. "A $4.1 million payoff is pretty steep. ... It's unprecedented in Canada," Naylor later told reporters, adding that's one of the problems with the case against his client. He suggested that Elsohemy was more concerned with getting money than searching for the truth.
Of the 18 people charged, four, including Amara, have pleaded guilty, a youth was convicted and seven have had their charges stayed. Five remaining accused are scheduled to begin trials in March. Abdelhaleem elected to be tried by a judge alone and not a jury.