TORONTO A young Canadian Muslim Saad Khalid pleaded guilty to playing a role in a terrorist plot to bomb the CN Tower, the Toronto Stock Exchange and other downtown landmarks.
Khalid was among the 18 people arrested in the Toronto area in the summer of 2006 and charged with several terrorism-related offences following an investigation by Canada's top spy agencies.
An Ontario Court Judge Bruce Durno asked Khalid a series of questions to find out whether his plea was voluntary and will hear a full week of related evidence on June 22.
'While Saad Khalid entered a guilty plea, no agreed statement of facts was entered or admitted and there has been no finding of guilt or conviction,' wrote Durno in his ruling Tuesday.
His lawyer Russell Silverstein said 'the reasons for Mr. Khalid's decision to plead guilty now are his own. However, as in most cases of this nature, sometimes pleading guilty is the best way to ensure a just result.'
There was no official word on Khalid's ethnic background. A report that he immigrated to Canada with his Pakistani parents when he was seven year old could not be immediately confirmed.