A ringleader of the failed Toronto 18 terror plot has been granted full parole after the Parole Board of Canada concluded he no longer shows “ any signs of holding onto extremist beliefs or radical ideologies.”

Zakaria Amara helped recruit members of a group that planned to storm Parliament Hill and bomb several places across Toronto. He’s been on day parole with multiple conditions for the past four years, and the board moved his release forward after they reviewed his case last week.

The two-member panel says Amara, 41, demonstrated “positive change, both in attitude and behaviour” after taking a deradicalization process while he was in jail. The panel’s decision, which included redactions, says Amara wants to live in his own home, work a full-time job, attend a mosque, see family and participate in “appropriate leisure activities.”

Amara can’t communicate with anyone involved in crime, including others arrested in the anti-terrorism raids of June 2006. He can’t come into contact with extremists, except in his work as a consultant with a specialized program.

He also has to continue to attend counselling, undergo financial monitoring and have restrictions on his phone and Internet.

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Terror plot

Amara and an accomplice recruited people with jihadist ideologies to carry out terror attacks to prompt the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan. Amara specifically masterminded a plot focused on building truck bombs targeting the headquarters of the Canadian Security Intelligence Services, the Toronto Stock Exchange, and a military base.

Amara pleaded guilty in October 2009 to participating in a terror group with the intention of causing explosions that were likely to cause serious bodily harm or death.

He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years. Amara challenged the sentence but it was upheld.