OTTAWA - The prosecution says Momin Khawaja's primary focus was a fertilizer bomb plot in Britain, not some other scheme for waging jihad.
In closing arguments at Khawaja's trial Wednesday, federal prosecutor David McKercher said the Ottawa software developer was intent on helping co-conspirators in London four years ago.
McKercher told Ontario Superior Court that the group of plotters weighed possible targets, looking for the "perfect hit" to help their cause.
He pointed to intercepts of discussions between Omar Khyam, ringleader of the British plot, and others as they tried to zero in on a target. The possibilities were said to include a nightclub, shopping centre and electric and gas facilities -- but the plan was foiled by authorities.
"There's nothing haphazard about any of this. It's almost a political debate," McKercher said.
"They're looking for the perfect hit in the circumstances."
Khawaja, 29, was arrested in 2004 and faces seven charges of financing and facilitating terrorism.
The key accusation is that he built a remote-control device to trigger explosions planned by Islamic extremists in Britain. Five alleged collaborators, including Khyam, were convicted in London and sentenced last year to life in prison.
Lawrence Greenspon, Khawaja's lawyer, contends his client wanted to join the fight against western forces in Afghanistan and says there is no proof he had specific knowledge of the London plot.
Evidence gathered by British security agency MI-5 indicated Khawaja visited people involved in the British plot and discussed remote-control technology with them.
McKercher tried to dismiss suggestions the group was planning attacks on a distant battlefield. He noted the British schemers had obtained and stored a large quantity of fertilizer, saying there was no way they would load it into backpacks and carry it over the Khyber Pass.
"That was never going to happen."
