Terror suspect owned assault rifle, court hears
TORONTO — A Toronto man arrested in April due to concerns he might engage in terrorism was the registered owner of an AR-15 type assault rifle, according to details disclosed at an Ontario court hearing on Friday.
How Kadir Abdul was able to legally own a restricted weapon remains unclear. The RCMP and Toronto police declined to comment on the case. Police have not been able to locate his Windham Weaponry semi-automatic rifle.
Five months ago, the 27-yearold was detained in the eastern Turkish city of Adana on suspicion he was trying to enter Syria. He was returned to Toronto and is the subject of a terrorism peace bond that restricts him from communicating with ISIL.
In the Ontario Court of Justice on Friday, a prosecutor revealed that after Abdul left Toronto for Istanbul on March 23, police executed a search warrant at the apartment he shared with his family in an attempt to find his assault rifle.
Mr. Uddin in his mind was trying to do something positive, which wasn’t done in the right way
Police did not find it but Abdul’s father, Mohammad Uddin, told investigators that following his son’s departure he had broken the restricted weapon into pieces and thrown them down the apartment garbage chute, Crown lawyer Matthew Giovinazzo told the court.
Uddin told police he had also destroyed his son’s firearm possession and acquisition license, he said. He was charged with two firearms offences on May 19, including failing to report “having destroyed a restricted firearm.”
On Friday, Uddin, 57, pleaded guilty with the assistance of a Bengali interpreter. “Mr. Uddin in his mind was trying to do something positive, which wasn’t done in the right way,” his lawyer Omer Chaudhry told the court.
But the Crown said Uddin had disposed of the weapon so that it would not be discovered and he was fortunate police did not consider his conduct obstructive. “There are clearly concerns from the federal government with the accused’s son,” Giovinazzo said.
Asked by a reporter outside the courtroom why he had owned an assault rifle, Kadir did not respond. “He’s not going to answer any questions,” Chaudhry said. The case was scheduled to return to court on Sept. 23 for sentencing.
As Canadians debate how to respond to violent extremism following the Aug. 10 police killing of an ISIL supporter in Strathroy, Ont. as he was allegedly about to commit a suicide bombing, Kadir’s case raises more questions.
The horrific Orlando nightclub attack by an ISIL supporter on June 12 led to debate in the United States over how the gunman was able to legally purchase assault-style weapons despite having been investigated by the FBI over alleged links to terrorism.
In Canada, firearms licensing is administered by the RCMP. Under Canada’s firearms regulations, licences can be refused or revoked if the holder is considered a risk to others. “Continuous” screening is conducted “to identify any public safety risks,” according to the RCMP website.
“It could very well have been missed,” said Stephanie Carvin, an assistant professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. The terrorism and security researcher also said that even if police have suspicions, they do not necessarily have the right to deny someone a firearms license.
Last year, federal immigration officials deported Muhammad Aqeeq Ansari for being a member of a Pakistani terrorist group. Police had raided a house in Peterborough, Ont., where he had stockpiled a dozen legally-owned firearms and ammunition.
It’s unclear when Abdul obtained his firearms licences but even his home address should have set off alarms. According to leaked ISIL documents smuggled out of Syria by a defector, a Canadian named Malik Abdul joined the terrorist group in July 2014. The contact number listed on his ISIL registration form matches a landline in Kadir Abdul’s building listed to “M. Uddin.” Malik is believed to have since died in Syria.
Under what Giovinazzo called “peculiar circumstances,” Kadir Abdul left Canada in March. He was arrested March 31 in Adana, Turkey, about 200 kilometres from the Syrian border, along with another Canadian, Samuel Aviles, Turkish officials said.
The Turkish officials, who asked not to be named, told the National
Post their government was unaware of a Canadian police investigation into the pair at the time and that the arrests were conducted following a probe by their own intelligence services.
The officials declined to discuss why the two travelers had aroused suspicions in Turkey. The Canadians were detained for two weeks due to concerns they intended to enter Syria and returned to Toronto on April 15, the officials said.
The RCMP arrested them upon their arrival at Toronto’s Pearson airport and sought terrorism peace bonds against them. Abdul agreed to the terms of a peace bond on July 15. He cannot possess a passport or weapons, must stay off the Internet except under supervision, and cannot “associate or communicate” with ISIL or Jabhat al-Nusrah, the former al- Qaida faction in Syria.
Similar conditions had been imposed on Driver but the effectiveness of terrorism peace bonds has come under scrutiny since his death. Despite the restrictions, Driver built a bomb and recorded a martyrdom video about a forthcoming attack on Canadians.
The 2016 Public Report on the Terrorist Threat to Canada released last week by Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the country’s “principal terrorist threat” comes from those inspired by extremist rhetoric to conduct attacks.
The report said the government was aware of about 60 returnees who were back in Canada after having taken part in overseas terrorism. It said they could use their “skills, experience and relationships” to recruit or plan attacks in Canada.