Saad Khalid

"When we did talk about questions I had, he essentially challenged me and my arguments," Khalid writes. "When I didn’t have any answers for him, that is when I really began to analyze my actions and thinking. He provided me with material that argued against the legality of terrorism."

According to a CBC News report detailing a series of exclusive letters CBC News exchanged with Khalid, at some point in his first term at University of Toronto he discovered a series of online lectures by American-born al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki (who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2011).

On May 4, 2009, Khalid pleaded guilty before judge Bruce Durno to a single count of acting "with the intention of causing an explosion or explosions that were likely to cause serious bodily harm or death or damage property". In return, it was expected that charges of participation in a terrorist group and training in furtherance of a terrorist group would be dropped. Lawyers for the other accused members still pending trial sought to have a publication ban prohibit all mention in the media of the guilty plea, but were largely unsuccessful. Durno's decision stated that "there has been no finding of guilt or conviction" simply because of the plea.

On September 3, 2009, Khalid was sentenced to 14 years in prison with credit of 7 years for time already served. He is eligible for parole after serving a third of his sentence since 2009. The Ontario Court of Appeal later increased the sentence to 20 years.

Saad Khalid was one of 17 people detained and arrested on June 2 and June 3, 2006, in the Greater Toronto Area in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests.

He was denied bail on July 17, 2006, and has since been in solitary confinement.

Khalid was born August 12, 1986, in Saudi Arabia to Pakistani parents. Khalid moved to Canada with his parents from Pakistan at the age of 8. He played in the Erin Mills Soccer Club league.