Canadian loses bid to challenge terror law

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The man set to be the first person tried under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act lost his bid to challenge the law's constitutionality on Thursday, when the Supreme Court refused to hear his case.

Momin Khawaja, a Canadian citizen, is charged with conspiring with seven British Muslims to carry out bomb attacks in Britain. He was seeking to have all charges against him dropped based on the law's unconstitutionality.

At least for now, the Supreme Court of Canada let stand an Ontario court decision that struck down a part of the law's definition of terrorism. The section that was struck down linked acts of terror to religious, political or ideological motivation.

Khawaja had argued that he had been targeted because of his Muslim religion, but when that part of the law's definition was struck down by the Ontario court, he said the law had been gutted and that he should now be allowed to go free.

The Anti-Terrorism Act was drafted in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks by Islamic militants on the United States.

The government had argued that Khawaja should follow the normal route of appeals in provincial courts rather than seeking a shortcut to the federal Supreme Court.

Khawaja's trial is tentatively slated to proceed in an Ontario court in Ottawa in May, but he has numerous other challenges under way, including whether evidence against him should be kept secret.