Plot to Behead Premier Alleged

One of 17 suspected terrorists arrested in Canada is accused of plotting to storm its parliament building in Ottowa, hold hostage MPs and behead the prime minister unless Muslim prisoners in Canada and Afghanistan were released, according to court papers made public yesterday.

The suspect, Steven Vikash Chand, a 25-year-old restaurant worker, is alleged to have planned to take over the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and other media outlets. He and 11 other suspects arrested at the weekend have been charged with membership of a terrorist group, and six face the charge of intending to kill or maim with explosives.

Officials have said that more arrests are possible, and they are investigating possible links between the Canadian suspects and jihadists in Britain, the United States, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Denmark, and Sweden. The Wall Street Journal yesterday reported that the Canadian accused had been in internet contact with a defendant in an ongoing British terror case where charges had been brought.

However, it is not being claimed that the Canadians were part of a cohesive organisation, like al-Qaida, but rather that they were inspired by al-Qaida ideas and in contact with like-minded people around the world through the internet.

"There's an allegation apparently that my client personally indicated that he wanted to behead the prime minister of Canada," Mr Chand's lawyer, Gary Batasar, told journalists outside a courthouse in Brampton, Ontario. "It's a very serious allegation. My client has said nothing about that." However, Mr Batasar accused officials of stirring up public anxiety. "It appears to me that, whether you're in Ottawa or Toronto or Crawford, Texas, or Washington DC, what is wanting to be instilled in the public is fear," he said.