Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Terror plotter in Canada enrolled in flight training program for plane attack- quit to allay suspicion
Terror plotter in Canada enrolled in flight training program for plane attack- quit to allay suspicion
June 7, 2006
Canada plot: Flight training link
Official says terror suspect an ex-Canadian reservist
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/06/07/canada.terror.plot.reut/
TORONTO, Ontario (Reuters) -- Canadian television reports that one of a group of Toronto-area men now in custody on terror-related charges had enrolled in a flight training program as part of a plan to use aircraft in an attack on Canadian targets.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which cited allegations contained in court documents, said Wednesday Amin Mohamed Durrani, 19, had enrolled in a training program at a Toronto-area college but then withdrew out of fear his activities would draw the attention of authorities.
Durrani is one of 12 men and five youths being held after a weekend raid in and around Toronto.
Several of the accused face charges of knowingly participating in a terrorist group, while six are charged with planning an explosion that could cause death or serious injury.
The documents repeated allegations revealed by a lawyer at a court appearance Tuesday, that some in the group had planned to storm Parliament and take politicians hostage to force Canada to remove its troops from Afghanistan.
Citing the documents, CBC said suspects were also alleged to have planned attacks Toronto police stations using radio controlled toys packed with explosives.
In other developments, The Associated Press reports one of the terror suspects who allegedly plotted to storm Canada's Parliament and behead the prime minister was a former reservist who received weapons training, an official said Wednesday.
Steven Vikash Chand -- who went by the alias of Abdul Shakur, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police -- belonged to the Royal Regiment of Canada, a reservist unit that meets in Toronto, Cmdr. Denise Laviolette told AP. (Full story)
The arrests have intensified the spotlight on Canada's presence in Afghanistan and shocked Canadians not used to worrying about attacks on home soil.
"As recent events have shown us, terrorism is a problem to address here in our own country and in fact around the world." Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day told a parliamentary committee Wednesday.
Day said the government planned to fulfill its pledge to increase its foreign intelligence capability, but he said it had not decided whether this should
Printer-friendly version 
Email this item to a friend