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Canada: UK terror plot accused pleads not guilty
Wed. June 25, 2008 08:00 am.- By Bonny Apunyu. -
(SomaliNet) As his trial began under heavy security, a Canadian-born software developer accused of participating in an Al Qaida-inspired cell that plotted bombings in Britain pleaded not guilty on Monday.
If he is convicted, Momin Khawaja, 29, faces seven terrorism-related charges that could put him in prison for life.
A source said in an Ottawa courtroom guarded by police sniper teams from surrounding rooftops and tactical officers armed with submachine guns inside it, Khawaja entered his innocent plea in a soft-spoken voice.
Khawaja, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani descent, was dressed in a white shirt and gray suit. He sat impassively as federal prosecutors said how British surveillance and electronic bugs betrayed a murderous conspiracy.
"The aim was to cause death, injury and damage for religious and political purposes," lead prosecutor David McKercher said. Co-conspirators in Britain had purchased more than 590kg of fertilizer for use in making bombs, he said.
"The result would be massive destruction and loss of life" if a single such bomb was detonated, he said. Khawaja is accused of collaborating with a group of British Muslims in 2004 in a thwarted bomb plan.-AP
News Category: World
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