Telegraph : Muslim extremist admits he was spy who revealed Canada bomb plot

Muslim extremist admits he was spy who revealed Canada bomb plot

by Toby Harnden | July 16, 2006

Muslim leaders in Canada have reacted with fury after a radical advocate of Sharia law revealed that he had been a government spy who helped to uncover an alleged al-Qaeda plot, writes Toby Harnden.

Mubin Shaikh, 29, came forward to confirm that he was recruited by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the country's equivalent of MI5, and directed a 10-day winter training course in guerrilla tactics.

During the course, which Mr Shaikh set up in a field in the remote village of Washago, Ontario, young Muslims allegedly dressed in camouflage, used guns for target practice and taped a video used to recruit others.

He said that he was initially asked to befriend the leader of a "cell" of 17 Muslims who allegedly planned to blow up the parliament buildings in Ottawa and Toronto's stock exchange. The 17, arrested last month, face terrorism charges.

"This is like the pot calling the kettle black," said Tarek Fatah, of the Canadian Muslim Congress. "He was the embodiment of extremism in the city and his spying calls into question whether he's acting out of sincerity, or is trying to fish himself out of his own troubles."

Aly Hindy, the imam of the Salahuddin Islamic Centre in Scarborough, Ontario, attended by some of the 17 suspects, said Mr Shaikh and Canadian intelligence had encouraged and entrapped young Muslims. "The government and the people keep saying that we should not make our young people radical. CSIS is the one radicalising the youth. I call him CSIS Shaikh."

But Mr Shaikh, who has declined an offer to enter Canada's witness protection scheme, is unrepentant, calling the suspects dangerous "fruitcakes" who deserved to be jailed.

The self-professed fundamentalist believed in holy war in Iraq and Afghanistan but not in Canada, he said.

"I wanted to prevent the loss of life. There are no combatants on the downtown streets of Toronto," he said.

Nada Farooq, the wife of Zakaria Amara, one of the accused 17, said: "I know this man. May Allah curse him and make him suffer."