CANADA: Suspects arrested earlier this month in an alleged terrorism plot planned to storm the Canadian parliament and hold politicians hostage, and at least one wanted to behead the prime minister if demands to withdraw Canada's troops from Afghanistan were not met, according to a summary of prosecutors' allegations read in court in suburban Toronto this week.
According to authorities, the group also planned to bomb power plants in Ontario and invade the downtown Toronto studios of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp, according to the written statement submitted to the court by defence attorney Gary Batasar and read into the record at his request. The statement, which the lawyer said was a summary of the government's planned charges, indicated that the men would demand the removal of Canada's 2,300 troops from Afghanistan and the release of all Muslim prisoners held in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Politicians, including prime minister Stephen Harper, would be killed if the demands were refused, according to the government allegations, Mr Batasar told reporters outside the courthouse.
The statements offered the first details of the plot that police and intelligence agencies said they had disrupted in a series of raids overnight on June 2nd. Twelve men and five teenage boys were arrested.