Canada's spy agency has made new allegations against a Montreal man who has been accused of being an al-Qaeda sleeper agent, saying he once discussed commandeering a commercial aircraft and had applied to work for Air Canada.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service laid the allegations against Moroccan-born Adil Charkaoui late on Friday as the federal government renewed its efforts to deport him and four other men accused of having terrorist links.
Charkaoui's supporters denied the latest accusations against him, calling them unproven fragments of information based on hearsay.
Charkaoui was arrested in Montreal in May 2003 and spent 21 months in jail under Canada's controversial security certificate measure, which allows authorities to hold a detainee indefinitely without charges and lets the government keep any evidence secret. He was released on bail in 2005.
On Friday, the Canadian government leveled new allegations against Charkaoui and the four others who are fighting to remain in the country.
In the newly filed papers, the spy agency claims that convicted terrorist Ahmed Ressam has identified Charkaoui as being present at an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan.
Charkaoui's defenders said that the allegations remain part of the file despite a retraction from Ressam, who was caught trying to smuggle explosives into the US on the eve of the millennium.
"Charkaoui and his lawyers have asked to cross-examine Ressam numerous times. This opportunity has always been denied, and it was finally acknowledged by the government that no sworn testimony existed, and that the information was based on hearsay," a statement said.
The spy agency also said Charkaoui allegedly had a conversation with two others about their apparent desire to take control of a commercial plane for aggressive purposes.
And it said Charkaoui once applied to work in the air traffic control operations at Air Canada, and later had an interest in working in the baggage section of Mirabel airport near Montreal.
The spy service suggests the job search may have been part of the "planning of an attack."
Charkaoui and the four others last year waged a successful challenge to the constitutionality of Canada's federal legislation dealing with the indefinite detention of foreign nationals on the basis of secret suspicions, and under the threat of deportation to countries where they may face torture.
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