Bail ruling expected for man tied to alleged bomb plot

A Quebec judge will rule Friday on whether a Moroccan man accused in an alleged Austrian-Canadian bomb plot should be granted bail.

Lawyers concluded their arguments Wednesday in Said Namouh's bail hearing in front of Quebec court Judge Sylvie Durand.

Namouh, 34, is attempting to secure bail after more than four months in detention, but his lawyer says he has no money, no job and no means of leaving the country as the RCMP has his passport.

The lawyer representing Namouh says his client is prepared to live in a Montreal homeless shelter while he awaits trial.

"He has lost everything and he has nothing to put down for his release," lawyer Ren Duval said outside the courtroom. "He has no family, no friends."

Namouh, a Moroccan national who has lived in Quebec since September 2003 after marrying a local woman, ischarged with conspiring to bomb unspecified targets in Vienna. He was arrested in the small Quebec town of Maskinonge last September.

Namouh has been alleged to have links toGlobal Islamic Media Front, an al-Qaeda propaganda group.

According to the Associated Press, evidence presented by federal Crown prosecutors featured hundreds of videos and images they characterized as terrorist propaganda, including a video depicting how to create suicide bomb packs and perpetrate other terrorist acts.

Duval said Namouh would not take the stand, but insisted the Crown had not made a case against his client.

"I consider [the Crown's evidence] to be non-existent on the essential ingredients," Duval said.

But the Crown says there is a risk Namouh could flee the country and that there is no guarantee he wouldn't continue with propaganda on the internet.

Crown prosecutor Dominique Dudemaine said the RCMP has shown that Namouh has access to money from foreign sources.

"The evidence is there, it's up to the judge to analyze it and come to a conclusion," Dudemaine said following the hearing.

Dudemaine also said Namouh's alleged comments on jihadist websites make him a threat to Canadian society.

"The words that he used worry me and I made that clear to the court."