Bail hearing for fertiliser bomb plot suspect
An Ottawa man accused of taking part in a bomb plot in Britain sat impassively through hours of testimony in Canada that will determine whether he is released on bail.
Mohammad Momin Khawaja, shackled and wearing a white shirt, was flanked by two police officers as lawyers made arguments during the lengthy bail proceedings.
Khawaja has been named as a co-conspirator in an explosives charge brought against five men arrested in Britain in an anti-terror sweep in March. Three of the British suspects are said to have possessed 1,320lbs of ammonium nitrate fertiliser, a common ingredient in home-made explosives.
Justice of the Peace Darrell Bartraw reaffirmed a publication ban on evidence in the case until completion of the charges against the 25-year-old software developer.
Khawaja, who has spent the last month in an Ottawa jail, faces charges under Canada’s Anti-Terrorist Act alleging he participated in, or at least contributed to, terrorist-related activities.
Police conducted raids in late March at Khawaja’s Ottawa home and office.
The hearing is due to resume on Friday.
Five men and a teenager were arrested in a series of police anti-terror raids in or near London on March 30.
Five people were charged with conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury. The sixth man along with two of the others was charged under the Terrorism Act 2000 with possession of an article for the purposes of terrorism.
