A man of Sri Lankan origin planned Canada's biggest terror plot:

He also planned to behead Canada's Prime Minister

by Geoff Robins

Family members of the men accused in a terrorism plot in Canada make their way through a throng of media as they leave a Toronto-area courthouse recently.

For some, basketball and barbecues in Toronto's bland suburbs were favorite pastimes. One was a doctor's son who had finished college, another struggled with a string of short-lived jobs.

At some point, it appears, the men came under the sway of an older, embittered extremist. Coming from three continents and diverse backgrounds, the 17 Muslim Canadians now stand accused of a terror plot that would have convulsed their adopted country.

Five of the suspects are minors; no information about them has been released. The others range in age from 19 to 43, some born in Canada and others abroad. Their families - mostly middle-class - come from Egypt, Somalia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Trinidad and Tobago.

According to court documents, the alleged plot envisioned bombings of targets in Ontario, storming of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) headquarters, and capturing - and possibly beheading - the prime minister and other politicians to enforce a demand for the release of Muslim prisoners and withdrawal of Canada's 2,300 troops from Afghanistan. CBC television said that one of the group had enrolled in a flight-training program as part of a plan to use aircraft in an attack on Canadian targets.

Spotlight

The arrests have intensified the spotlight on Canada's presence in Afghanistan and shocked Canadians not used to worrying about attacks on home soil.

Many questions remain about who led the group, and how well-trained and organized it was. But the oldest suspect, Qayyum Abdul Jamal, stands out thus far as the one most clearly linked by acquaintances to strident political views.

The 43-year-old Jamal, a father of three, was active at the Al-Rahman Islamic Center, a storefront mosque attended by at least six of the other suspects in Mississauga, a heavily immigrant suburb of 700,000 just west of Toronto. One fellow mosque member, Sam Lela, said Jamal was a good-hearted man, quick to offer help to others. Those he reached out to included young men who neighbors saw coming and going from his town house at odd hours.

"He was very active associating with the young fellows," said Faheem Bukhari, a director of the Mississauga Muslim Community Center. "He was teaching them intolerance."

Bukhari recalled one Friday service at the mosque when Jamal took the microphone and asserted that Canadian forces were going to Afghanistan to rape Muslim women.

The Mississauga mosque is sandwiched between The Cafe Khan, which offers kebobs, and a convenience store. Mohammed Jan works at the cafe and said several suspects often came in for snacks after prayers.

"They just seemed normal," Jan said. Jerry Tavares, who lives two doors down from Jamal's home, said Jamal moved into the middle-class town-house complex about four years ago and was unfriendly, rarely interacting with neighbors.

Another of the prominent suspects, Steven Vikash Chand, lived on the east side of Toronto, working at a modest shawarma restaurant in the Scarborough area.

The spotlight fell on him this week when his lawyer revealed that Chand had allegedly discussed beheading Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Chand, 25, was born to a Hindu family from Sri Lanka, but he recently converted to Islam and is also known as Abdul Shakur. Alone among the suspects, Chand had served in a military reserve unit, the Toronto-based Royal Regiment of Canada. Asad Ansari, 21, lived with his large family in Mississauga in a two-story brick house with a two-car garage. Neighbors said he often played basketball outside and joined the family for backyard barbecues.

Fahim Ahmad, 21, played in weekly basketball games at his mosque in Scarborough. Shareef Abdelhaleen, 30, is a computer programmer, whose father, an engineer, came to Canada from Egypt 20 years ago. Ahmad Mustafa Ghany, 21, is a health-sciences graduate from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, the son of a doctor who emigrated from Trinidad and Tobago four decades ago.

At least two of the younger suspects, Zakaria Amara, 20, and Jahmaal James, 23, were married; James met his wife on a recent trip to Pakistan.