Saad Khalid

Guilty plea On May 4, 2009, Khalid pleaded guilty before judge Bruce Durno to a single count of acting "with the intention of causing an explosion or explosions that were likely to cause serious bodily harm or death or damage property". In return, it was expected that charges of participation in a terrorist group and training in furtherance of a terrorist group would be dropped. Lawyers for the other accused members still pending trial sought to have a publication ban prohibit all mention in the media of the guilty plea, but were largely unsuccessful. The Ontario Court of Appeal later increased the sentence to 20 years.

Recalling his radicalization in prison According to a CBC News report detailing a series of exclusive letters CBC News exchanged with Khalid, at some point in his first term at University of Toronto he discovered a series of online lectures by American-born al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki (who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2011).

"He had a knack for telling a good story, so when I came across his lectures on jihad, I was hooked" Khalid writes.

"Here was someone I respected and he was connecting global grievances that Muslims share with what your responsibility is in terms of these issues."

"I was left with the understanding that it was religiously incumbent on me to assist in defending Muslims whose land had been invaded."

He has spent time in counselling with an imam during his time in prison.

"When we did talk about questions I had, he essentially challenged me and my arguments," Khalid writes. "When I didn’t have any answers for him, that is when I really began to analyze my actions and thinking. He provided me with material that argued against the legality of terrorism."

Khalid now says he knows his actions weren't right. He has apologized to Canadian Muslims and Canadians in general for what he did. He insists that he did not hate Canada, Canadians or non-Muslims and that he was against Canadian foreign policy specifically in Afghanistan.