An RCMP mole and star witness in a terrorism case defiantly warned prosecutors against attacking him at the coming trials of the 10 key "Toronto 18" suspects.
Police informant Mubin Shaikh said yesterday that he was "nobody's shill." Two weeks earlier, the Crown pounced on him at the trial of a youth on terrorism charges for contradicting statements he had made at a previous hearing.
His warning to prosecutors came outside a Toronto court minutes after he pleaded guilty to threatening a pair of 12-year-old girls in April, 2007, in his Etobicoke neighbourhood.
Mr. Shaikh, a devout Muslim who was paid $300,000 by the RCMP to infiltrate an alleged terrorist cell, said a group of preteens had "swarmed" his two children, and when the group did not back off at his request, he threatened two girls.
Mr. Shaikh pleaded guilty to telling the girls, "Do you know who I am? I'm going to chop off your legs!"
Outside the court, he said the pair had called him "Taliban boy" and "Osama bin Laden" based on his "overtly Islamic appearance" - a prayer cap, long beard and traditional clothing.
"I hear Osama bin Laden a lot, but I'm half the height of Osama bin Laden, so I don't know why people mistake me for him," he said.
The judge gave him a conditional discharge and two related charges of assault were dropped.
After leaving the courtroom, Mr. Shaikh said he was pleased the whole matter was behind him before the trial of the adults accused in the terrorism case begins.
"Everything's cleared, now I can just focus on the adult trial," he said.
In May, 2007, Dennis Edney, defence attorney for the alleged ringleader of the terrorist group, told The Globe and Mail he would consider using the threatening charges to question Mr. Shaikh's integrity as a witness.
Although he testified for five days at the trial of the youth, now 20 years old, last month, the incident was never raised in cross-examination.
The most aggressive questioning he faced came from Crown prosecutor John Neander, who grilled Mr. Shaikh about how much the youth knew about the alleged terrorist plot.
Mr. Shaikh also clarified some of his testimony from the terror trial, saying that the youth and other minors were asked to clean up shell casings and litter at an alleged terrorist training camp to hide evidence, but had been told by the leaders of the group that it was to protect wildlife.
He maintained throughout his testimony that the leaders had "nefarious" intentions, but the youth on trial was kept in the dark about the alleged plot. He said the cross-examination by the Crown caught him off guard.
"... I'm kept in a room and they don't tell me anything. I can't be expected to stick to some script," he said.
"I'm not bought and paid for," he said. "The only script I follow is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. If the Crown has a problem with that, they can take it up with God."
Dakshana Bascaramurty