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Following the deaths of several Canadian extremists in Syria, Somalia and North Africa, and amid concerns those who survive their misadventures could return home to wage violence, police have been encouraging Canadians to let them know if a friend or family member is becoming radicalized.

Mr. Hersi, 28, testified that while he had not done so, he had tried four or five times to dissuade his “friend” from joining Al-Shabab — although he said that was before police began recording their conversations in January 2011.

Only after accepting that the undercover officer was determined to join did Mr. Hersi begin to give him advice, he said. “He was a friend, he was intent on going, so least I could do was help him not get caught,” he testified on Friday.

He said it would have been absurd and Orwellian to report someone for something they might do in the future, and that there was never any danger to Canada. “He wasn’t a threat to anyone in Toronto,” Mr. Hersi testified.

But I’m not telling him to shoot anybody, would you agree?

But Crown prosecutor Iona Jaffe played recordings in which Mr. Hersi told the officer not to “burn any bridges in Canada” because Al-Shabab might send him back to “take care of” someone who had insulted the Muslim prophet Muhammad.

“But I’m not telling him to shoot anybody, would you agree?” Mr. Hersi said under cross-examination Friday. “No,” Ms. Jaffe countered.

Mr. Hersi said he had not pressed the officer to change his mind because he felt intimidated by him and also indebted to him for gifts his “friend” had showered on him such as a book, a T-shirt and Toronto Raptors tickets.

But Ms. Jaffe said Mr. Hersi had another motive. “The reason why you didn’t do that was because you and the officer shared a common goal — and that common goal is to make your way to Somalia to join Al-Shabab,” she said.

National Post

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