Lawyers for the alleged al-Qaeda sleeper agent are challenging whether the ministerial security certificate that led to his May 2003 arrest was issued on the basis of "reasonable" grounds.
The judge hearing the case does not have to determine the truth of the government's allegations that Charkaoui, 31, is an al-Qaeda agent who could carry out an attack at any time.
On Monday morning, the court heard from a Canadian Security Intelligence Service agent identified only as Jean-Paul, to protect his identity.
He has not investigated Charkaoui in detail, but was called as a terrorism expert.
At his bail hearing last week, Charkaoui said he did not necessarily believe that al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden – whom he called "some guy living in a cave" – were responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks against the United States.
The CSIS agent testified about the strong evidence that al-Qaeda did indeed plot and carry out the airplane hijackings that killed about 3,000 people.
- FROM FEB. 18, 2005: Charkaoui free on $50,000 bail
Charkaoui was released from a detention centre on Friday, after spending almost two years there without being charged.
A variety of high-profile Canadians contributed to the $50,000 bail, including Oscar-winning filmmaker Denys Arcand, Alexandre Trudeau, son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, singer Bruce Cockburn and former cabinet ministers Warren Allmand and Flora MacDonald.
Federal Court Judge Simon Noel set a number of conditions on Charkaoui's release.
He must respect a curfew, stay with his family and wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. The judge also placed limits on whom he can contact and on his use of computers.
Security certificates allow detention
Issued with the authority of a little-used section of the Immigration Act, ministerial security certificates allow the federal government to detain non-citizens without charges, and to withhold evidence the government says could threaten national security.
Such certificates must be signed by both the federal minister of immigration and the solicitor general.
- FROM DEC. 10, 2004: Security certificates constitutional: court
A bid by Charkaoui's legal team to have the certificates declared unconstitutional failed in December 2004, when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on the case.
Several other people are also being held on security certificates, including Algerian-born Ottawa resident Mohamed Harkat and Mahmoud Jaballah, an Egyptian man who had been living in the Toronto area.
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