Terrorism claims against Khawaja stunned his ex-fiancée
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 | 11:10 AM ET
CBC News
An artist's sketch depicts Mohammad Momin Khawaja, centre, in an Ottawa courtroom last month at the start of his trial. Khawaja's ex-fianceé said jihad has to be understood as something much broader than 'blowing things up.' (Tammy Hoy/Canadian Press) The ex-fiancée of the Canadian man accused of involvement in a British bomb plot testified at his trial in Ottawa that she was surprised he had been arrested on terrorism charges and that he held views typical of many young Muslim men.
After several postponements because of logistical difficulties in having her testify from Dubai, Zeba Khan finally appeared via video link Tuesday at the trial of Mohammad Momin Khawaja.
Khan, testifying about her e-mail correspondence with Khawaja in late 2003, before they broke off their engagement, said she was stunned when her sister told her that a man with the same name as her one-time fiancé had been arrested.
Khawaja's involvement with Islam "did not in any way line up to terrorist activity," Khan said, and was more in the spirit of, "Let's work in a refugee camp or something."
And Khawaja certainly never suggested setting off a bomb in London during their e-mail correspondence, Khan testified.
"Oh, very definitely no," Khan said.
The prosecution read excerpts of Khawaja's letters to the court. In one e-mail, he wrote: "We need [constant] economic J [jihad] blow after blow until they cripple and fall never to rise again." In another, he asks, "Would you not say that the actions of 19 men on Sept. 11 are the most accurate, effective and honourable way of conducting economic J? Imagine if there were 10 Sept. 11s."
In response, Khan explained that "jihad" to her has a much broader meaning, referring to engaging with life's big struggles. "So, of course I believe in jihad," she said. "It does not mean that I believe in blowing things up."
Typical muslim views?
Khan also said Khawaja's views were typical of the opinions of lots of Muslim men around the world who have been angered by the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Khawaja, 29, is being tried on seven charges of financing and facilitating terrorism, accused of being part of a plot to set off a fertilizer bomb in England. As part of the indictment — the first under Canada's Anti-terrorism Act — he is alleged to have built the remote-control device for detonating the bomb.
Khawaja was working as a software developer for Canada's Foreign Affairs Department when he was arrested in 2004. He has pleaded not guilty. Five of his alleged co-conspirators were convicted last year by a British court and sentenced to life in prison.
Khan was the last prosecution witness at the trial. The defence must now decide whether to call any witnesses or to proceed straight to closing arguments, where it would attempt to refute the Crown's case.
