Islamist’s dream of Shariah caught on video

Undercover taping entered at Habib trial

MONTREAL • Seated on a sofa across from a man he believed to be a crime boss able to smuggle him out of Canada on a ship, Ismael Habib explained last February why he wanted to get to Syria so badly.

He said he dreamed of living under Shariah law in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and was prepared to die in the fight to establish Islamist rule.

“We love death like you love life,” he explained during the meeting in Montreal. It was a recurring theme in Habib’s nearly three hours of conversation with the man who peppered his speech with Québécois curses.

It turned out the supposed crime boss was an undercover RCMP officer, and Friday the video of Habib’s encounter was played at his trial. He is charged with attempting to travel to Syria to commit a terrorist act and giving false information to obtain a passport.

The officer, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, testified earlier about how he had won Habib’s confidence through a series of conversations on the phone, in restaurants and in parking lots.

In the video, Habib recounts how as a teenager in Montreal he got involved in street gangs and drugs. He was raised a Muslim, but the only thing he prayed for was to have a girlfriend.

That changed at about age 18 when he became devout. He said he believed in Shariah. “Shariah is Islamic law,” he said. “When you steal, they cut off your hand.”

Now, he said, he believes he is headed for paradise if he dies following God’s path. He said he wanted to be sure to pay off his debts before leaving for Syria because if he died in debt, he would be denied entry to paradise and the 72 women — “beautiful and virgins,” he said — awaiting him there.

The agent quizzed Habib on other Montrealers he knew who would be willing to pay to be smuggled by ship to the war zone. Habib Video from a hidden camera was entered as evidence Friday in the terrorism trial of Ismael Habib in Montreal. suggested he try the mosque of Adil Charkaoui, a controversial local imam. The Assahaba mosque where Charkaoui preaches, also known as the Centre islamique de l’Est de Montréal, has been linked to several young people who left for Syria or attempted to leave.

“You know he gives course to the youth and there are a lot of young people who are riled up,” Habib said.

He described a 2013 trip to Syria during which he met up with his brother-inlaw and they connected with Chechen jihadis. He said he spent three months in Syria before ISIL solidified its control. There were multiple jihadi groups at the time and the atmosphere was mostly relaxed.

“Like a summer camp,” he said. “You chill, you have fun. You see different groups and drink tea with the Syrians.”

But one time his group captured a soldier from the Syrian army, and Habib described to the agent how he whipped the prisoner.

He said his jihad involves fighting to establish an Islamic state in the Middle East, not attacking civilians in the West.

“I wouldn’t do attacks here. That’s not my style,” he said. “I’m not against them. If they do it, that’s their business.”

He said the November, 2015, attacks in France were deserved because of French intervention against ISIL. He said he was “really happy” when the attacks occurred, killing 130 people.

The video shows the two men at ease, laughing frequently. But at the beginning of the meeting, Habib asked the agent to leave his phone outside the room in case it could be used to eavesdrop on them.

As a hidden camera and microphones captured the scene, the agent said he considered the request an insult and kept his phone next to him.