Source: The Scotsman

Wire Service: Reuters

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1027562006

On July 14, 2006 Reuters reported, "A well-known Toronto Muslim says he acted as a government spy to infiltrate a gang accused of plotting terror attacks in Canada, describing the group as 'fruitcakes' who could have caused great damage. Mubin Shaikh told CBC television and two major newspapers that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) spy service had asked him last year to try to infiltrate the group of 17 men, who were arrested in early June. 'I wanted to prevent the loss of life,' he told Friday's Toronto Star, saying he also wanted to protect the country's large Muslim population. 'There are no combatants on the downtown streets of Toronto ... I don't want Canadians to think that these (people) are what Muslims are'... Some Muslim leaders reacted with anger to the comments by Shaikh, who came to prominence last year when he campaigned to persuade Ontario to adopt Islamic-based sharia law to settle family matters. The province rejected the bid. 'This is like the pot calling the kettle black because Mr. Mubin Shaikh has been the exponent of Islamic extremism in this city,' Tarek Fatah of the Canadian Muslim Congress told the Toronto Star. 'He has been the No. 1 proponent of the imposition of sharia law in Canada, has been extremely hostile to all moderate Muslims, which calls into question whether he's acting out of sincerity or is he trying to fish himself out of his own troubles,' he said. Fatah could not be reached on Friday. Lawyers for the 17 complain their clients are being treated harshly and suggest the police might have tried to improperly entrap them."