Further info on terror raid:
Arrests in terror raid
Twelve nabbed, one suspect sought
canada.com
Stewart Bell, National Post
Published: Saturday, June 03, 2006
TORONTO - Police tactical teams raided several locations in Greater Toronto yesterday as part of what is being described as Canada's largest terrorism investigation since the Air-India bombings.
The RCMP has scheduled a news conference for this morning to announce it has made at least twelve arrests under the Anti-terrorism Act, and was still seeking one suspect. Hundreds of officers were involved. The arrests went without incident.
Police would provide no details last night, but a senior intelligence official disclosed this week that "homegrown" terrorists were looking at targets in Canada.
Arrests in Canada have been widely anticipated since the FBI announced in April it had apprehended two Georgia men on terrorism-related charges.
At the time, the FBI said Ehsanul Sadeqee and Syed Ahmed met in Toronto with at least three subjects of a terrorism investigation to discuss training and attacks. The Toronto men were described as "like-minded Islamic extremists," but were not further identified.
Last night, the suspects were being held at a Durham Regional police station in Pickering, where security was high. Tactical police officers armed with automatic weapons patrolled outside the station with dogs.
Police vehicles blocked the entrance to the station, and the building was cordoned off with yellow tape.
The charges would be the first under the Anti-terrorism Act since Momin Khawaja of Ottawa was arrested in March, 2004, for his alleged role in a British bombing conspiracy.
The case comes as counterterrorism efforts are increasingly focused on networks of "homegrown" extremists who subscribe to the "al-Qaeda ideology."
On Monday, top RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) officials emphasized the threat of homegrown terrorism during appearances before the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence.
"We are seeing phenomena in Canada such as the emergence of homegrown, second- and third-generation terrorists," Jack Hooper, the CSIS Deputy Director of Operations testified.
"These are people who may have immigrated to Canada at an early age who become radicalized while in Canada. They are virtually indistinguishable from other youth.
"They blend into our society very well, they speak our language," he added.
CSIS has been reporting for the past two years that a "new generation of jihadists" is emerging in Canada composed of youths angry about what they see as the oppression of Muslims.
CSIS now reports that a "high percentage" of the extremists on its target list are Canadian-born.
Security officials in Holland have been dealing with a similar phenomenon, notably the Hofstad gang, a collection of Dutch-born Muslim youths who killed filmmaker Theo Van Gough and plotted to kill MPs and bomb the headquarters of the state security service.
Like its equivalents in Europe, the Toronto suspects may not have formal links to al-Qaeda. But officials report that the "al-Qaeda ideology" has taken hold among the growing number of Muslim youths living in the West who have become radicalized by their parents, preachers and the Internet.
As al-Qaeda has evolved into a movement with a global following, local cells of extremists have taken cues from the broadcast statements of leadership figures like Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri and have organized plots on their own initiative.
Canada has not been immune to the spread of radical Islam, nor has it been overlooked as a worthy target, especially as Canadian troops in Afghanistan are making headlines.
Canadians should not be surprised to see terrorism coming so close to home, said former RCMP jihadism expert Tom Quiggin, now a university researcher in Singapore.
"A clear sense of denial exists in Canada about the degree to which terrorism activity occurs," said Mr. Quiggin, who is Canada's only court-recognized expert on jihadism.
"Political correctness is wielded as a weapon against anyone who dares to speak out. Yet some of the world's most infamous terrorists have operated in Canada almost unhindered for years.
"Even direct threats against Canada and attacks against Canadians with multiple deaths have not broken this denial. As a result of the highly suppressed political discourse in Canada, the domestic response to this growing problem has been limited."
CSIS reports that some of those getting involved in homegrown terror networks are Canadians who have converted to the intolerant, extremist version of Islam.
"We have cases of white Anglo-Saxon male Protestants converting to the most radical forms of Islam," Mr. Hooper said.
"These are people who blend in with us and our neighbours."
sbell@nationalpost.com
© National Post 2006 |
