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2010-01-30 Great White North
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I didn't issue fatwa, says father of Toronto plotter
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The father of "Toronto 18" bomb plotter Shareef Abdelhaleem says he never issued a fatwa sanctioning terrorist acts in Canada, despite contradictory testimony from a star Crown witness at his son's trial. Mohammed Tariq Abdelhaleem, speaking outside a Brampton courtroom yesterday after testifying at an entrapment hearing, suggested police agent Shaher Elsohemy invented the fatwa angle because he held "a grudge against me and my son."
Similar to what the defence is arguing, the elder Abdelhaleem, 62, said he believes Mr. Elsohemy pushed his son to participate in the bomb plot as an act of "revenge" for past disputes between their families. "He's punishing me in the shape of my son," Mohammed Abdelhaleem said.
Shareef Abdelhaleem, 34, was found guilty last week of participating in a terrorist plot to detonate powerful truck bombs at the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service office on Front Street and a military base between Toronto and Ottawa. The entrapment hearing, expected to wrap up on Monday, is examining whether there was an abuse of police process in the case.
Mohammed Abdelhaleem, who taught Islamic education classes in Mississauga and worked as a nuclear engineer until his son's arrest, said he and his son discussed jihad "many, many times," particularly in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. "He knew where I stand on this," Mohammed Abdelhaleem said, noting his son would not have to ask for a fatwa, or religious ruling, to determine the bomb plot was Islamically incorrect. "To say Shareef had to make a phone call to me is absurd."
The issue first came up during the testimony of Mr. Elsohemy, who said the accused told him he received a fatwa from his father indicating a terrorist attack in Canada would be "acceptable." Upon receiving the ruling, Mr. Elsohemy told the judge, Shareef Abdelhaleem said "things are clear for him now.... He has no doubts about [the plot's] Islamic correctness."
Mohammed Abdelhaleem, concerned about the damage to his reputation, made a point of addressing the issue outside court yesterday after giving testimony on the entrapment matter. Mohammed Abdelhaleem told the Superior Court judge that before Mr. Elsohemy became an RCMP agent in the spring of 2006, he attended Mr. Abdelhaleem's religious classes in Mississauga, and "he used to ask questions about jihad and what should we do and where should we go. I didn't like that."
The court has heard much about a disagreement between Shareef Abdelhaleem and Mr. Elsohemy that began during a trip to Morocco and continued in Mississauga, when Shareef Abdelhaleem accused Mr. Elsohemy's brothers of smashing his BMW windshield. After that incident, Mohammed Abdelhaleem says he barred Mr. Elsohemy from attending any more of his classes. He now blames Mr. Elsohemy, who is in witness protection after negotiating a $4-million deal, for entrapping his son.
"[Shareef ] is not violent whatsoever. He likes cats and stuff," Mohammed Abdelhaleem said outside court. "He gets influenced by people ... so fast." 
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Posted by ryuge 2010-01-30 06:47||
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Posted by Swanimote 2010-01-30 09:54||
2010-01-30 09:54||
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