Thaindian News

Toronto, Oct 9 (IANS) The ringleader of an Al Qaeda linked group that plotted attacks on Canada has pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy.
Zakaria Amara, 24, who had planned to flee to Pakistan after carrying out the bombings, is the fourth member of the so-called Toronto-18 group to plead guilty to the plot.

The plot was unearthed in June 2006 with the arrest of 18 Canadian Muslims linked to the Al Qaeda.

The plotters had planned to blow up the Toronto Stock Exchange and offices of the Canadian spy agency, and storm parliament in Ottawa to take leaders hostage and behead the prime minister.

To carry out the plot, they had undergone training in firearms at a rural camp in December 2005.

A police mole blew the cover on the plot.

Most plotters were of Pakistani origin and came from the Toronto suburb of Mississauga, which has the biggest concentration of Muslims in the country.

Amara is the fourth to plead guilty. One has already been convicted.

Besides, six others still await trial and charges have been stayed or dropped against seven.

Appearing in a court in the Indian-dominated Toronto suburb of Brampton Thursday, Amara pleaded guilty to charges of a plot to explode fertiliser bombs at the nation’s parliament, the headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), nuclear plants and a military base.

Prosecution said he had planned to use bomb-laden U-Haul trucks to blow up his targets by remote control.

Amara, who once described himself as ‘a little Muslim from Palestine’ in his online posting, admitted to telling an undercover agent that he is the “ringleader” of the plot.

The court also heard how he had tried to buy massive quantities of ammonium nitrate fertiliser to build the truck bombs, and include metal chips in them to cause maximum casualties.

Amara also admitted that he had planned to flee to Pakistan, then Afghanistan, after the attacks.

After his arrest June 2, 2006, police had recovered a manual on bomb making, $12,000 in cash and books titled “The Book of Jihad”, “The Fundamental Concepts of Al Jihad” and “Islamic Ruling on the Permissibility of Self-Sacrifice Operations: Suicide or Martyrdom”.