Fahim Ahmad (born August 10, 1984) is one of 11 people convicted in the

2006 Toronto terrorism case The 2006 Ontario terrorism case refers to the plotting of a series of attacks against targets in Southern Ontario, Canada, and the June 2, 2006 counter-terrorism raids in and around the Greater Toronto Area that resulted in the arrest of 14 adul ...

. He was a ringleader in the group. He was 21 years old at the time of arrest, and married with two children.

Life

Fahim Ahmad was born in Afghanistan and immigrated to Canada at age 10. He attended

Meadowvale Secondary School Meadowvale Secondary School is a part of the Peel District School Board in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Two feeder schools for Meadowvale Secondary School are Edenwood Middle School and Lisgar Middle School. Extra curricular activities Meadowv ...

with fellow suspects Saad Khalid and

Zakaria Amara Zakaria Amara is one of 17 people detained on June 2 and 3, 2006, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. He was convicted for planning to launch terrorist attacks against targets in Southern Ontario and was believed to b ...

. Friends suggest that he made statements supporting the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

. Ahmad was unemployed and reportedly handed out self-burned CDs of the

as-Sahab As-Sahab Media (Arabic: السحاب, "The Cloud") is the official media wing of Al-Qaeda’s core leadership based in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It produces media featuring original sermons and speeches by senior Al-Qaeda commanders as well as f ...

video detailing the lives of the

hijackers in the September 11 attacks The hijackers in the September 11 attacks, who were often referred to as the 9/11 hijackers, were 19 men affiliated with the militant Islamist group al-Qaeda. They hailed from four countries; 15 of them were citizens of Saudi Arabia, two were fro ...

at the Salaheddin Islamic Centre in Toronto.

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

Canada: The Cell Next Door
January 30, 2007 Ahmad had been under surveillance since 2002, when the 17-year old's internet usage demonstrated that he was in contact with "jihadists in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

." In 2004, the

Canadian Security Intelligence Service The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; french: Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité, ''SCRS'') is Canada's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating int ...

(CSIS) noticed that he had joined Clearguidance.com a year earlier, an "anti-Western" website on which he logged 754 posts. Among his posts were statements like:

"Parents' anti-jihad/anti-'religiousness' talks are starting to effect ..come on bros, i need some jihad talks, anything! its like so dead my sources for videos is no more either, ..i know u guys can hook me up."

"Nowadays, for the most part, parents don't practice their eligionmuch to begin with, and when a kid says, 'o mommy, daddy, i want to fight for ALLAH' automatically they say "NO! U WILL GO TO SCHOOL AND HAVE A FUTURE."

When moderator Salmaan Ziauddin resigned from the website, CSIS approached him several times, asking about specific members of the website, including Ahmad and

. Ahmad's wife, Mariya, was a student at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and went by the online moniker "Zawjatu Faheem"

Terrorist activities

Fahim Ahmad has been described by law enforcement and the police as the primary ringleader in the plot and a spiritual leader among the men. His original "second in command" was

; however he apparently grew disenchanted with Ahmad’s lack of action and broke away. Ahmad’s group became the Scarborough group and Amara’s became the Mississauga group. The widely reported goal of "beheading politicians" originated with Ahmad’s group. In March 2005, Americans

Ehsanul Sadequee Ehsanul "Shifa" Sadequee (born July 30, 1986, in Fairfax, Virginia) is an American who was arrested by the FBI on four terrorism charges, convicted, and sentenced to 17 years in prison, to be followed by 30 years of supervised release. Life Sadeq ...

and

Syed Haris Ahmed Syed Haris Ahmed (born 1984) is a naturalized American citizen born in Pakistan who was convicted on June 9, 2009, of conspiring to provide material support to terrorism in the United States and abroad. with whom they had spoken online about thei ...

traveled to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

together aboard a

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...

bus, to meet with Ahmad,

Jahmaal James Jahmaal James is one of 17 people detained on June 2 and June 3, 2006, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. He and the others arrested are alleged to have plotted coordinated bombing attacks against targets in souther ...

and another youth, CBC
Among the Believers; Timeline
/ref> whom they had spoken to online about their mutual interpretations of Islam and jihad. While the group discussed hypothetical scenarios in which North America was attacked, the government noted there was "no imminent danger". Police informant

Mubin Shaikh Mubin Shaikh is a former security intelligence and counter terrorism operative, currently a Professor of Public Safety at Seneca College and also Counter Extremism Specialist for the U.S.-based NGO, Parents for Peace. He rose to prominence in his ...

later stated that he believed the two Americans had been asking whether they would be able to hide in Canada if they were to carry out attacks in the United States. Shaikh later stated that Ahmad had told him that "if CSIS ever came to my door," he would shoot them, imitating a gun with his fingers. Ahmad organized a

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

in December 2005 and held a second camp the following spring. He also sought a

safe house A safe house (also spelled safehouse) is, in a generic sense, a secret place for sanctuary or suitable to hide people from the law, hostile actors or actions, or from retribution, threats or perceived danger. It may also be a metaphor. Histori ...

in northern Ontario to use as a hideout. Ahmad claimed to have ordered a shipment of weaponry from Mexico.

Arrest

Ahmad was arrested on June 2, 2006.Teotonio, Isabel
Toronto man planned widespread terror attacks, jury hears
Toronto Star, April 12, 2010. Retrieved 2011-03-20. He was charged with receiving and providing terrorist training, and intent to harm or kill with explosives. He was represented by attorney

Dennis Edney Dennis Edney is a Canadian defence lawyer based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Originally from Dundee, Scotland, he is noted for his involvement in high-profile cases, including Brian Mills, R. v. Trang, as defence attorney for Abdullah and Omar ...

Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

Aly Hindy Aly Hindy is the Imam of the Salaheddin Islamic Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada once called "Toronto's million-dollar radical mosque” by the ''National Post''. Career Hindy immigrated to Canada in 1975 after graduating in Engineering from ...

, referring to the four suspects who attended Salaheddin Islamic Centre, said that Ahmad was the only one who might be guilty of a crime, although not terrorism, for his role in renting a car that

Ali Dirie Mohammed Ali Dirie was one of 17 people connected to arrests on June 2 and June 3, 2006, in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. He was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison. He was released in October 2011, left Canada in 2012, and re ...

and Yasim Mohamed used to smuggle two handguns across the border.Thomas, Vanessa and Make Becker.

Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...

A portrait of terrorist suspects
June 5, 2006 A year and a half after his arrest, Ahmad said he remained "baffled" why the government thought there was a terrorist plot, and was "still waiting for the government to produce a snippet of credible evidence".Walkom, Thomas.

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

, "Confusion, despair from terror suspect isolated in Don Jail", November 8, 2007

Trial and guilty plea

Ahmad was tried simultaneously with Steven Chand and

Asad Ansari The 2006 Ontario terrorism case refers to the plotting of a series of attacks against targets in Southern Ontario, Canada, and the June 2, 2006 counter-terrorism raids in and around the Greater Toronto Area that resulted in the arrest of 14 adu ...

, and all pleaded not guilty at the beginning of the trial. The jury heard that he had been a ringleader in a group having held two training camps in 2005. The idea of attacking parliament and beheading politicians was attributed to Ahmad. The court also accused him of plotting to attack nuclear stations and power grids. Police agent

testified as to the extremist content of the camps and Ahmad's intent and leadership. On May 10, 2010, in mid-trial, jurors learned that Ahmad had changed his plea to guilty.Teotonio, Isabel
Toronto 18 ringleader pleads guilty in terror trial
Toronto Star, May 10, 2010. Retrieved 2011-03-20. On October 25, 2010, Ahmad was sentenced to 16 years in prison, with double credit for the four years he had already spent in custody.
The Huffington Post, October 25, 2010. Retrieved 2011-03-21. This was the first terrorism case in Canada to be decided by a jury.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad, Fahim 2006 Ontario terrorism plot Living people 1984 births Afghan emigrants to Canada People convicted on terrorism charges People imprisoned on charges of terrorism Canadian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Canada