Another link

This is interesting. The father of one of the accused, Shareef Abdelhaleen, is an Egyptian immigrant who came to Canada with his son 20 years ago. He works as an engineer on contract at Atomic Energy of Canada. He says he is "shocked" that his son is charged with terrorist activity. "It's crazy. It has no meaning whatever." But that's not the interesting part. This is the interesting part:

The senior Abdelhaleen also confirmed that he posted bail for Mohammad Mahjoub, who is currently in Kingston, Ont., on a national security certificate.

Well, "in Kingston" puts rather too vague a point on it. He's in jail. An Egyptian refugee, Mahjoub has been imprisoned since June 2000, the last two years in solitary confinement. He has become something of a cause celebre for the left, with the help of publicity gained in a 79-day hunger strike last year. Some background:

Mahjoub is one of five people being held by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service on security certificates based on secret evidence. Under federal law, the government can hold suspects indefinitely if they convince a judge the suspect is a threat. He is accused by security officials of belonging to the Vanguards of Conquests, a militant group with ties to al-Jihad. But he denies any links. Mahjoub has admitted meeting Osama bin Laden in Sudan in the 1990s when he worked in an agricultural plant owned by bin Laden. Canadian authorities tried to deport Mahjoub a year ago, but a federal judge stayed the deportation order against Mahjoub, saying she was convinced he might be tortured if forced to return to Egypt, where he was convicted of having terrorism links.

POSTSCRIPT: One of the five, Mohamed Harkat, was last week granted bail, though on stringent conditions. He remains in jail pending a government appeal. Some background on Harkat:

Mr. Harkat, 37, came to Canada in 1995 after five years in Pakistan, during which time, he said, he worked as a warehouse manager for the Muslim World League. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service alleges that he travelled to Afghanistan in the early 1990s and developed a relationship with al-Qaeda lieutenant Abu Zubaydah, who ran two terrorist training camps. The government accuses him of being an al-Qaeda sleeper agent who posed an immediate security threat to Canadians. Mr. Harkat's case will be among those before the Supreme Court of Canada in June when it considers whether the security certificate process is constitutionally valid.

More, from a Globe editorial:

Mohamed Harkat, suspected of being an Algerian terrorist, has been released from an Ottawa jail after a Canadian judge concluded that, with stringent conditions on his release, there is at least a 51-per-cent chance he won't blow anyone up... For instance, Mr. Harkat will be allowed out of the house three times a week for four hours at a time, with approval from the Canadian Border Services Agency on 48 hours notice, as long as he is accompanied by certain individuals accepted by the court. He will have to wear an electronic monitoring device at all times. He is barred from using cellphones, pagers and the Internet. He must give officers of the border agency access to his home at any time. Judge Dawson takes a hardheaded view of Mr. Harkat. "Unchecked, Mr. Harkat would be in a position to recommence contact with members of the Islamic extremist network." She points out that he lied to the court on several important points. He falsely denied knowingly assisting Islamic extremists who have come to Canada; he falsely denied having been associated with Abu Zubaida, a close associate of Osama bin Laden's. It's a paradox, to say the least, that Mr. Harkat has been declared a danger to the security of Canada and yet safe to release into the community.

To say the least.