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Remote detonator a 'custom' job, Mountie tells terror trial |
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Written by Jim Brown, THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Tuesday, 08 July 2008 |
Evidence pertaining to the Khawaja trial is released to the media at the Ottawa Court House. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
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OTTAWA - A remote-control device seized in a police raid on Momin Khawaja's family home was a "customized project" rather than a simple, off-the-shelf piece of technology, an RCMP expert on electronics and explosives said Tuesday.
Sgt. Sylvain Fiset led Khawaja's terrorism trial through a detailed description of what has come to be known as the Hi-Fi Digimonster, which federal prosecutors say was designed for use in a bomb plot targeting locations in Britain.
The device was essentially a collection of electronic circuit boards that could be strung together to form an encoder, transmitter, decoder and receiver. Some commercially available components went into the mix, but they were modified along the way, said Fiset.,
"The Hi-Fi Digimonster series of circuit boards are a customized project," he told Crown attorney David McKercher.
Fiset said the parts of the device matched a collection of schematic diagrams found on computer hard drives seized by the Mounties in March 2004 when they raided the house owned by Khawaja's parents in the Ottawa suburb of Orleans.
One of the computers in question was located in the basement, next to a curtained-off corner that Momin Khawaja used as a makeshift bedroom.
But schematics for the device were also found on two computers in the upstairs bedroom of Momin's older brother Qasim. And the actual physical parts of the Digimonster were spread out on a work table in Qasim's room.
Qasim Khawaja has never been charged with any criminal offence. Momin faces seven counts, including financing and otherwise facilitating terrorist activity.
The central allegation against him, however, is that he built a remote detonator for a group of Islamic extremists in Britain who planned to bomb a London nightclub, a shipping centre southeast of the city, and electrical and gas distribution facilities.
The plan was foiled by U.K. police and security forces and five men were convicted by a London jury last year and sentenced to life in prison. Khawaja has pleaded not guilty to the Canadian charges and is being tried by Justice Douglas Rutherford without a jury in Ontario Superior Court.
Previous evidence, gathered by the British security service MI-5, has indicated that the Ottawa software designer discussed remote-control technology with some of the other plotters during a visit to England in February 2004.
He also showed them Internet-based pictures of the Digimonster and later boasted, in an e-mail, that he could build 30 of the devices once he solved any remaining technical problems.
Mohammed Babar, a former al-Qaida operative turned police informer, has also testified that he believed Khawaja was trying to find a way to deliver explosives by mounting them on a radio-controlled model airplane.
A disassemble model plane was found in the Khawaja home by the RCMP. But Fiset said he never uncovered any evidence that it was linked to the work on the Digimonster, and McKercher acknowledged the Crown won't be pressing that point any further.
The prosecution's effort to connect the evidentiary dots in the highly technical testimony Tuesday was marred by recurring organizational and procedural glitches.
On several occasions proceedings were halted as the Crown searched for documents, tried to sort out problems with missing pages, or attempted to explain why new material had been added to reports previously tabled.
Rutherford didn't try to hide his frustration, threatening at on point to adjourn for the day if the problems couldn't be ironed out. Fiset is due to continue his testimony on Wednesday.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 September 2008 )
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