06-06-2006, 11:34 PM
Wajid Khan is the owner Dufferin Mazda (long time Fan590 listeners can hear his voice now, Iâm sure) as well as a Member of Parliament.
He had some things to say about one of the alleged terrorist plotters â and well, letâs just say his language is befitting someone in the car biz and refreshingly blunt for an MP.
He had some things to say about one of the alleged terrorist plotters â and well, letâs just say his language is befitting someone in the car biz and refreshingly blunt for an MP.
Reuters News Service Wrote:OTTAWA (Reuters) - Qayyum Abdul Jamal, the eldest of the 17 men arrested in Canada's home-grown terror case, was an unimpressive "idiot" who alleged Canadian troops were in Afghanistan to rape Muslim women, a local legislator said on Monday.
Jamal, 43, was charged on Monday with planning to cause a deadly explosion and could face life in prison if found guilty. He was a volunteer at the Ar-Rahman Islamic Center in Mississauga, Ontario, west of Toronto, and sometimes lectured there.
Wajid Khan, the Liberal legislator for the local parliamentary constituency, said he had been invited to speak at the center about a year ago.
Jamal, who was leading the prayers that day, was supposed to make brief comments introducing Khan to the congregation.
"He said they (the Canadian troops) are in Afghanistan to rape Muslim women," Khan told Reuters by telephone from Mississauga.
"I just got up right away and I pushed him aside and started to address the crowd and criticized him for talking nonsense. People agreed with me, that this was bulls***."
At the time of the incident, Canada had a large contingent of troops in the Afghan capital Kabul. There are now 2,300 Canadian soldiers in the southern city of Kandahar.
Khan said he had been told that angry members of the congregation later confronted Jamal outside the center and "kind of roughed him up" to show their displeasure.
"I just figured he was another one of the disgruntled Canadians who is not happy with troops being in Afghanistan. Half the country didn't like the idea, so I thought that this is just an idiot trying to be a hero," he said.
Khan told Reuters he had had nothing more to do with the center or Jamal.
"Then I saw his picture in the news and his name and (I thought) 'holy cow' and then all hell broke loose."
Members of the congregation told local media that Jamal had been a mentor figure to several teenagers who are also among the accused, something Khan said he found hard to grasp.
"It's very disturbing. I'm struggling with the whole of the idea of how the hell that this guy -- who is very ordinary ... he's not a fiery speaker, his command of the language is piss-poor: is he really the guy who has brainwashed these other teenagers or he is just a contact guy?" he said.
2008 Fusion SEL MTX - DD1 * 2009 Fusion SEL - DD2 * 2007 Focus ZXW - R*I*P * 2004 Focus ZTW CD Silver - sold * 2004 Focus ZTW Black - sold * 2003 Focus ZTW Black - sold * 2001 Focus ZTW Gold - sold * 2000 Focus SE Wagon (ZTW option) - Black - sold * 2000 Focus SE Wagon (ZTW option) - Gold R*I*P
2003 Focus ZX5 infra-red Track Rat - R*I*P
2003 ZX5 CD Silver Track Rat - retired, but still in the driveway
New track rat: 2000 ZX3, Atlantic Blue * JRSC with lots more to come
* New Zetec crate motor - NFG - thanks Topspeed *
2003 Focus ZX5 infra-red Track Rat - R*I*P
2003 ZX5 CD Silver Track Rat - retired, but still in the driveway
New track rat: 2000 ZX3, Atlantic Blue * JRSC with lots more to come
* New Zetec crate motor - NFG - thanks Topspeed *