Muslim extremists have visited the Islamic centre that is willing to give Abdullah Khadr a job as part of a bail proposal, an Ontario court heard today.
The late patriarch of the notorious Khadr family was among those to visit the Salaheddin Islamic Centre in east-end Toronto. The centre has pledged $50,000 in bail money for Abdullah Khadr, who has been in custody for 2 1/2 years.
Crown lawyer Howard Piafsky told the court that Khadr's father, who was close to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, attended the centre, and that its co-founder went to Iraq to join insurgents fighting the U.S-led invasion.
But the centre's manager rejected suggestions that the centre has links to terrorists.
"We are not responsible for that," protested Abdul Ibrahim, who has been the manager for about 10 years.
Tens of thousands of Muslims pray at the centre every year and do not support terrorism, he said.
Ibrahim initially denied knowing one of the so-called "Toronto 18" - those accused of being part of a homegrown terror cell. But later he said he signed a passport application for one of the accused conspirators.
"I know a lot of people," he said.
Khadr was denied bail at a previous hearing in December 2005.
The 27-year-old, born in Ottawa, is wanted in the U.S. on charges that he supplied weapons to al Qaeda and plotted to kill Americans abroad.
Khadr's lawyers say that two self-incriminating statements he made were due to being tortured while he was in custody for 14 months in Pakistan.
"Mr. Khadr is not a terrorist," Dennis Edney, one of Khadr's lawyers, said outside of court.
"If he was, we would have had some real evidence other than the statements Mr. Khadr made when he was in a dungeon in Islamabad, tortured for 17 days."
His lawyers want him released on $300,000 bail. They also want him to be able to work at the Islamic centre and propose that he wear an electronic tracking bracelet.
Khadr's grandparents, Mohamed and Fatmah Elsamnah, have offered to put up their home as surety to provide bail.
The court heard Wednesday about a new bracelet that tracks the wearer in real time.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for Khadr says new information -- including the fact that the U.S. paid Pakistan a bounty for Khadr's arrest -- is enough to help build a solid case against his extradition.
"It's now clear that in fact he has a very strong defence to this extradition," Nate Whitling told The Canadian Press.
"He should now be released pending the completion of the extradition proceedings."
Khadr's younger brother, Omar, is currently being held at Guantanamo Bay.
He is facing a trial before a military commission in October on charges that he killed an American medic in Afghanistan in 2004.
With files from The Canadian Press
