Fahim Ahmad was convicted of organizing terrorist training camps in Canada and plotting to kill terrorists.
Photo Credit: CBC

Canadian jihadist denied parole

The ringleader of a group plotting to storm Parliament and behead politicians talked told a parole hearing what led him into extremism and how he had changed, but the board refused his request for early release.

Fahim Ahmad said he had an urge to escape his marriage and two babies who cried at night, and that developing an alter ego made life like living in a video game, reports the Globe and Mail. He said his wife was difficult to get along with and he would escape to the mosque.

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A courtroom evidence photo from the Toronto 18 case, released on Oct. 20, 2009, shows electronic equipment. The group was accused of a plot to create explosions at various Canadian sites. © Canadian Press

‘You want to do what is glamorous’

The newspaper quotes him as saying “When you are 19, 20 years old you want to do what is glamorous.” He also said the Internet was a major draw for him.

Fahim was a leader of the so-called Toronto 18 whose members were arrested in a 2006 anti-terrorist crackdown. In 2010 Ahmad pleaded guilty to several charges related to terrorism and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

While the parole panel said he had gained important insight into how he became an extremist, it said he had no “viable plan” to resist the radical influences he had succumbed to in the past.

Ahmad has already served four years in prison but has been credited with eight-and-a-half because of the time he was incarcerated while awaiting trial.

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