BRAMPTON, Ont. - A young man accused of taking part in a homegrown terrorist conspiracy seemed genuinely surprised in the hours after his arrest to hear his Muslim friends were allegedly plotting murderous attacks in Canada.

In a gentle, wide-ranging police interrogation, videotaped two years ago, the accused asserts his associates were simply practising their faith and wouldn't ruin their lives by committing terrorist acts.

"I don't think they were, like, you know, planning to do something towards Canada or anything," he says in the recording, played Thursday at his ongoing trial in Brampton, Ont., northwest of Toronto.

He also appears stunned to hear from RCMP Sgt. John Tost that one member, Mubin Shaikh, was a paid informant who was instrumental in bringing down the alleged conspiracy.

"He was like a nice guy and I gave him respect," the youth says. "It's hard to believe a guy like that would go and stab you in the back."

In fact, Shaikh testified this week that the young man was naive and kept in the dark about the plot to blow up various targets, storm Parliament Hill, and behead politicians.

The 80-minute session - part interrogation, part discussion about issues like religion and philosophy - was made June 3, 2006, as police swept down on the alleged conspirators, eventually arresting 18 in and around Toronto.

Tost tells the accused that police regard a camp he attended in December 2005 north of Toronto as terrorist training.

"The intent of that camp was wrong," Tost says. "It was wrong. And you know that."

The youth, however, offers a different take.

"We (were) going to go for, like, some religious training thing," he says about the camp, although he refers to it at one point as a "mission."

"Every Muslim people believe in that . . . to prepare for our self and everything."

The camp, which was under police surveillance, involved studying the Qur'an, running around, and playing in the snow, he says.

He does concede under questioning that participants fired a 9mm handgun and played paintball games, which police allege were part of military-style combat training.

Police also accuse the young man of stealing various items in support of the group's planned terrorist activities.

The youth tells Tost he shoplifted a set of walkie-talkies, so he could talk to a buddy because he doesn't have a cellphone.

"I stole it," he says.

"From where?"

"I think it's from Wal-Mart. Yeah, Wal-Mart."

"Wal-Mart, OK. Why?"

"No, just for the fun of it - because it was fun. No, seriously, walkie-talkies are wicked."

The accused, who is now 20 but was 17 at the time of his alleged offences, tells Tost he doesn't believe in violence to defend and spread the Islamic faith.

"I feel in my heart it would be nice if, you know, we could work to go, you know, just talk to people . . . sit down with them humbly, you know, talk to them," he says.

Moments later, he says violence is sometimes justified.

"Let's say that the Americans, right, when they fought against the Russians, right, if they were to sit down, you know, say, you know, what we gotta do it peacefully, peacefully, peacefully, America would have been gone a long time (ago)."

He also defends the alleged leader of the conspiracy as a "brother" who is knowledgeable about Islam.

The two of them often talked about religious matters but only rarely about using "the sword" to spread the faith, he says.

At the end of the interrogation, Tost praises the teen for being respectful and calls him a nice young man.

"I hope things go well for you. I truly do."

The trial continues Tuesday.