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The 'mastermind and chief organizer' of a terrorist plot to bomb three government buildings in Toronto is now roaming the streets after a parole board cited his 'respectful, polite and quiet' demeanor.
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board → sign → demeanor
Zakaria Amara, now 41, pleaded guilty in 2009 in the Canadian Superior Court of Justice, three years after he planned the extremist attack.
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he → plead → attack
A massive police investigation thwarted the plot.
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investigation → thwart → plot
Amara was sentenced to nine years in prison for organizing a training camp for terrorist recruits and to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years for plotting to construct a bomb.
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Amara → sentence → bomb
He was arrested on the day bomb-making materials were delivered to a warehouse.
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materials → arrest → warehouse
He appealed his sentence in 2010, but the court denied it.
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court → appeal → it
However, the parole board granted Amara day parole in 2022, a form of conditional release in a supervised residential facility.
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board → grant → facility
The Parole Board of Canada in Ontario granted Amara full parole on Friday.
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Board → grant → Friday
The written decision, obtained by the Canadian Press, said he no longer showed 'any signs of holding onto extremist beliefs or radical ideologies.'
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he → write → beliefs
The board praised Amara for reintegrating into society during day parole, noting that he rehabilitated and demonstrated a 'positive change, both in attitude and in behavior.'
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he → praise → behavior
He harbored extremist values behind bars but officials documented an ideological shift in 2014 and he was transferred to a minimum-security prison, according to the written decision.
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he → harbor → decision
During the latter part of your federal custody and for the past four years in the community, you have undertaken a process to distance yourself from extremist ideologies and others who share the same views,' the board wrote.
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board → undertake → views
Zakaria Amara, now 41, has been granted full parole over two decades after plotting a massive terrorist attack in Canada
Amara served time in maximum-security prison for the plot.
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Amara → grant → plot
He was released on day parole four years ago and is pictured above in Facebook photos uncovered in 2018
Amara was arrested in 2006 in a massive raid connected with the terrorist group.
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Amara → release → group
His home at the time is pictured above
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home → picture → time
Amara has been barred from communicating with anyone involved in criminal activity, including his Toronto 18 co-conspirators, and anyone who harbors extremist ideology.
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who → bar → ideology
He will live in his own home, attend a mosque, see family, participate in 'appropriate leisure activities' and work a full-time job, the review stated.
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review → live → job
Amara also must continue counseling, financial monitoring and has restrictions on phone and internet use.
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Amara → continue → use
While he was in prison, a Facebook account in Amara's name circulated online, showing photos of him behind bars and it was subsequently taken down, Global News reported in 2018.
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News → circulate → 2018
The Toronto 18 case rocked Canadians and was widely considered the country's first large-scale homegrown terrorist plot.
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case → rock → Canadians
The depths of the plot were uncovered after a massive police raid in the summer of 2006 when around 400 officers stormed homes in Toronto and Mississauga.
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officers → uncover → Toronto
The youngest men arrested were 15 and 17 years old.
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men → arrest → ?
An informant with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) infiltrated the group and testified that the plot to bomb the Toronto Stock Exchange Tower, the CSIS Headquarters and a military base was well developed.
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plot → infiltrate → Tower
The informant reported that Amara had asked him for help purchasing ammonium nitrate, the fertilizer used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.
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that → report → people
To maximize damage, Amara had planned to put metal chips inside the bombs.
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Amara → maximize → bombs
The plan was to detonate all three buildings during rush hour.
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plan → detonate → hour
Amara's sentencing judge noted that if the plot succeeded, 'the results would have been catastrophic,' leading to many deaths.
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results → note → deaths
Prosecutors compared the plan to what would have been a 'Canadian 9/11.'
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what → compare → plan
Amara pleaded guilty to the attacks in 2009.
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Amara → plead → 2009
His sister (right) is pictured above holding his daughter outside Brampton Court
A written review from the parole board said he has worked to rehabilitate and no longer harbors extremist views.
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he → picture → views
He is pictured above in an undated social media photo
Amara was described by the review board as 'respectful, polite and quiet'
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Amara → picture → board
'Driven by his violent Jihadist convictions, the appellant plotted and schemed for months, schooled himself in the science of bomb-making, recruited underlings to assist him, used tactics designed to reduce the chances of detection, and played a central role in every important decision that was made to further the conspiracy,' judges wrote in an appeal denial in 2010.
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judges → drive → 2010
During his sentencing, Amara read aloud a two-page letter to the judge, expressing remorse and accepting his fate.
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Amara → read → fate
'Even though my terrorist plans were divinely aborted I still feel that I have killed since actions are intertwined with intentions.
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actions → abort → intentions
Therefore, until I save the same number of souls that I almost took away, I will remain indebted with a heavy burden that I would hate to meet God with,' he said.
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he → save → God
Amara recalled that during his incarceration, he met an inmate whose brothers worked in the Exchange Towers.
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brothers → recall → Towers
'Although it could be said that everyone was a potential victim, this title fit him right on.
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title → say → him
I was shook by the irony of the meeting.
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I → shake → meeting
I felt pathetic, I felt foolish, I felt sorry,' he said.
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he → feel → ?
In a letter to his fellow Canadians, Amara said he regretted his actions and vowed to be a better man so that one day his peers 'will perhaps contemplate accepting me once more into the fold.'
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Parole Board of Canada for comment and the written review.
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Mail → regret → comment
The Aporia
