Canada Nabs Terror Suspects

[BATMAN]

TORONTO
Canadian police foiled a homegrown terrorist attack by arresting 17 suspects, apparently inspired by al-Qaida, who obtained three times the amount of explosives used in the Oklahoma City bombing, officials said Saturday.

The FBI said the Canadian suspects may have had "limited contact" with two men recently arrested on terrorism charges in Georgia. About 400 regional police and federal agents participated in the arrests Friday and early Saturday.

...The charges came under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act. It was passed shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 assaults _ and after Osama bin-Laden named Canada as one of five "Christian" nations that should be targeted for terror attacks. The other countries, the United States, Britain, Spain and Australia, have all been targeted.

Portelance, of Canada's spy agency, said it was the nation's largest counterterrorism operation since the adoption of the act and that more arrests were possible.
FULL STORY

You think anyone is fussing about the government "spying" on them like some do here?

 

[Said1]

You think anyone is fussing about the government "spying" on them like some do here?

http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32469

 

[Wolfe]

I just don't understand how young men raised in Canada, who are more Canadian than Muslim, can possibly get mixed up in this stuff?

 

[BATMAN]

What I don't get - well, I do - is how some media reports said these guys were a "diverse" group so to speak.

1. Fahim Ahmad, 21, Toronto;
2. Zakaria Amara, 20, Mississauga, Ont.;
3. Asad Ansari, 21, Mississauga;
4. Shareef Abdelhaleen, 30, Mississauga;
5. Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, Mississauga;
6. Mohammed Dirie, 22, Kingston, Ont.;
7. Yasim Abdi Mohamed, 24, Kingston;
8. Jahmaal James, 23, Toronto;
9. Amin Mohamed Durrani, 19, Toronto;
10. Steven Vikash Chand alias Abdul Shakur, 25, Toronto;
11. Ahmad Mustafa Ghany, 21, Mississauga;
12. Saad Khalid, 19, of Eclipse Avenue, Mississauga.

I see something they have in common.

 

[Wolfe]

What I don't get - well, I do - is how some media reports said these guys were a "diverse" group so to speak.

1. Fahim Ahmad, 21, Toronto;
2. Zakaria Amara, 20, Mississauga, Ont.;
3. Asad Ansari, 21, Mississauga;
4. Shareef Abdelhaleen, 30, Mississauga;
5. Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, Mississauga;
6. Mohammed Dirie, 22, Kingston, Ont.;
7. Yasim Abdi Mohamed, 24, Kingston;
8. Jahmaal James, 23, Toronto;
9. Amin Mohamed Durrani, 19, Toronto;
10. Steven Vikash Chand alias Abdul Shakur, 25, Toronto;
11. Ahmad Mustafa Ghany, 21, Mississauga;
12. Saad Khalid, 19, of Eclipse Avenue, Mississauga.

I see something they have in common.

How to report the obvious without being obvious maybe? Maybe a trip to the town square at dawn for a public execution will send a message to the rest.

 

[Said1]

What I don't get - well, I do - is how some media reports said these guys were a "diverse" group so to speak.

1. Fahim Ahmad, 21, Toronto;
2. Zakaria Amara, 20, Mississauga, Ont.;
3. Asad Ansari, 21, Mississauga;
4. Shareef Abdelhaleen, 30, Mississauga;
5. Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, Mississauga;
6. Mohammed Dirie, 22, Kingston, Ont.;
7. Yasim Abdi Mohamed, 24, Kingston;
8. Jahmaal James, 23, Toronto;
9. Amin Mohamed Durrani, 19, Toronto;
10. Steven Vikash Chand alias Abdul Shakur, 25, Toronto;
11. Ahmad Mustafa Ghany, 21, Mississauga;
12. Saad Khalid, 19, of Eclipse Avenue, Mississauga.

I see something they have in common.

What I find odd is the two hicks from Kingston. Probably students, or jailbirds.

 

[BATMAN]

What I find odd is the two hicks from Kingston. Probably students, or jailbirds.

Hicks north of the border:rotflmao:

 

[Said1]

Hicks north of the border:rotflmao:

While it may seem funny, Kingston isn't the type of small town that would have a large immigrant population. Toronto (Mississauga is considered part of Toronto) is one of the biggest cities in the country, with well over 5 million people. Kingston on the other hand, probably has less than 100k permanent residents - you have to subtract the students and prisoners from all three prisons and the retirees who are probably only there in the summer. It's odd, and concerning, because, like I said, they are probably students - meaning the school has potential terrorists attending, who have easy access to all kinds of shit being in such close proximity to ex-cons - the town is full of them.

 

[Wolfe]

Hicks north of the border:rotflmao:

They may be hicks from Kingston but are terrorists nonetheless. What more proof is needed that Muslims do not fit in a modern world? Their world is backward and old like the countries they originated from. Its too late to send then back but maybe complacent sleepy canadians will awaken long enough to deal with the threat. I would like to see internship to the arctic like what happened to the Japanese in WWII.

 

[Annie]

While it may seem funny, Kingston isn't the type of small town that would have a large immigrant population. Toronto (Mississauga is considered part of Toronto) is one of the biggest cities in the country, with well over 5 million people. Kingston on the other hand, probably has less than 100k permanent residents - you have to subtract the students and prisoners from all three prisons and the retirees who are probably only there in the summer. It's odd, and concerning, because, like I said, they are probably students - meaning the school has potential terrorists attending, who have easy access to all kinds of shit being in such close proximity to ex-cons - the town is full of them.

Shortly after 9/11, two students were arrested from very hick university towns, Peoria-Bradley University(pop. 118k) and Macomb(pop. 18,500)

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ilc/press/2003/may/052203almarri.html

-Western Illinois University. I would assume they figured their police weren't up to snuff?

Funny thing, after googling, found lots more from Macomb, going back quite awhile. http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&hl=en&q=macomb+arrest+terrorism&btnG=Google+Search

 

[Said1]

Shortly after 9/11, two students were arrested from very hick university towns, Peoria-Bradley University(pop. 118k) and Macomb(pop. 18,500)

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ilc/press/2003/may/052203almarri.html

-Western Illinois University. I would assume they figured their police weren't up to snuff?

Funny thing, after googling, found lots more from Macomb, going back quite awhile. http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&hl=en&q=macomb+arrest+terrorism&btnG=Google+Search

Goes to show just how spread out they are and not to mention bold. I was reading in the paper this morning, that neighbours complained about hearing machine gun fire. When questioned, they said they were playing "extreme" something or other. I'm REALLY hoping that's what prompted further obersvation and investigation.

They looked like they had a really nice water front cottage too, fairly isolated. And yes, btw, I'm jealous. I want to retire to Kingston, one day.

 

[LuvRPgrl]

Goes to show just how spread out they are and not to mention bold. I was reading in the paper this morning, that neighbours complained about hearing machine gun fire. When questioned, they said they were playing "extreme" something or other. I'm REALLY hoping that's what prompted further obersvation and investigation.

They looked like they had a really nice water front cottage too, fairly isolated. And yes, btw, I'm jealous. I want to retire to Kingston, one day.

Bold or stupid?

 

[Adam's Apple]

I just don't understand how young men raised in Canada, who are more Canadian than Muslim, can possibly get mixed up in this stuff?

If their names are any indication, I would say that they are more Muslim than Canadian. :tng:

This all just goes to show how widespread this cancer is and how difficult it is for the West to assimilate these people into our cultures. Canada has never been involved in the WOT in any shape or form, except for sharing intel like most other Western countries do.

 

[Annie]

I just don't understand how young men raised in Canada, who are more Canadian than Muslim, can possibly get mixed up in this stuff?

Osama called for it:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060509/terror_canada_060509?s_name=&no_ads=

l Qaeda attack on Canada 'probable': CSIS

Canada Terrorism
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has mentioned Canada in some of his taped statements. (file)

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has mentioned Canada in some of his taped statements. (file)

CTV.ca News Staff

Updated: Wed. May. 10 2006 11:27 PM ET

The head of Canada's spy agency has warned that while the threat from al Qaeda remains strongest overseas, a terror attack on Canadian soil is "now probable."

In his annual report to the government, which has just been made public, Jim Judd says the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's highest priority involves working at preventing attacks occurring in, or originating from, Canada.

"The threat of further attacks by Sunni Islamic extremists and other like-minded groups continues, bringing with it elevated demands on the service's resources," says the report, which covers the year 2004-05.

A focus of the intelligence service's counter-terrorism program "was therefore the interdiction and removal" of such radicals.

"During the past year, Canada and Canadian interests abroad continued to be under threat from al Qaeda and its affiliated groups," Judd says.

"While the threat remains concentrated overseas, an attack on Canadian soil is now probable."

Judd's comments represent some of the strongest language ever used by a senior Canadian official in characterizing the threat from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

A declassified copy of the top secret report was obtained Tuesday by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

It was first delivered as top secret in late November to then-public safety minister Anne McLellan, who was later defeated in the January 2006 election.

Al Qaeda included Canada on a list of target countries in both November 2002 and March 2004.

Meanwhile, Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are coming under repeated attack from al Qaeda and Taliban elements opposed to the new western-supported government in Kabul.

'High degree of vigilance'

Stephen Rigby, acting national security adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, told CP Tuesday the government is maintaining "a very high degree of vigilance" with respect to al Qaeda.

"We're just trying to increase the level of sophistication as to how we refine that consideration of the threat, where it might come, how it might come," Rigby said after speaking to a conference on national security.

Federal officials have paid "a lot more" attention to the possibility of a strike on transit systems since the deadly terrorist attacks on commuters in Madrid and London, he added.

That extends to closely examining the explosive devices used by extremists in these attacks.

"We study those, and we sort of consider various scenarios in which they might be used in Canada," Rigby said. "We try to develop the most refined threat scenarios that we can."

Rigby said, however, that Canadian officials have "no specific evidence" of a plot at this time.

Transport Canada's John Forster said that transportation systems have figured in one way or another in almost every major terrorist attack during the last 30 years.

One concern is that terrorists might set off a "dirty bomb" -- a conventional explosive laced with radiological material that could contaminate several city blocks.

Judd's report says the spy service's counter-proliferation branch, which tries to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction, "continued to investigate Shiite and state-sponsored terrorism," as well as the activities of certain unnamed foreign governments.

The report also stresses the service's involvement in the security screening of visitors to Canada, including refugee claimants, immigrants, prospective citizens and employees who work at sensitive government jobs and installations such as nuclear plants and airports.

Last week's budget set aside $95 million for a fund to let rail and public transit operators pay for measures designed to protect passengers from potential terror attacks.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, which handles airport security across the country, is also getting an extra $133 million this year for its operations.

With files from the Canadian Press

 

[Said1]

If their names are any indication, I would say that they are more Muslim than Canadian. :tng:

This all just goes to show how widespread this cancer is and how difficult it is for the West to assimilate these people into our cultures. Canada has never been involved in the WOT in any shape or form, except for sharing intel like most other Western countries do.

They've been in Afghanistan since '02, that's helpful, isn't it?

 

[theHawk]

I saw footage of their media chasing down the suspects' families. I was laughing my ass off it was like watching cockroaches when the lights come on. Of course they claim they are victims of 'guilt by association'. No shit Sherlock.
:cof:

 

[Said1]

I saw footage of their media chasing down the suspects' families. I was laughing my ass off it was like watching cockroaches when the lights come on. Of course they claim they are victims of 'guilt by association'. No shit Sherlock.
:cof:

What are you talking about?

 

[theHawk]

What are you talking about?

I saw the Canadian media chasing down their families as they ran from some building to their car. Didn't catch more details than that as I was flipping through channels.

 

[Said1]

I saw the Canadian media chasing down their families as they ran from some building to their car. Didn't catch more details than that as I was flipping through channels.

In relation to the recent to the recent suspects?


If I was innocent, I wouldn't be running, I would be SCREAMING my head of and in contact with any lawyer who's looking to get famous - for free of course!

 

[Annie]

A lesson for us all:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...un07,0,3872160.story?coll=chi-newsopinion-hed

The attacks that didn't happen

Published June 7, 2006

There's no bright-line test to distinguish nonchalance from oblivion. So the sluggish reaction of many Americans to the news of terror planning in the Canadian province of Ontario may qualify as both lame and foolhardy. Tuesday's allegation that one suspect was plotting to storm Canada's parliament and behead officials--including the prime minister--is but one more sensational twist on a troubling drama.

If you've missed the story: Authorities have arrested 17 males--five of them teenagers--and say that an international search for allied terror suspects is very much ongoing. The 17 suspects, evidently inspired by Al Qaeda but not formally tied to that group, allegedly planned a series of explosive attacks on the parliament in Ottawa and on other high-profile targets, likely in Toronto.

Although the details still are unfolding, officials say the men plotted to use three tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer to fashion massive bombs. That's roughly triple the amount Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols used in 1995 to collapse much of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Imagine the destruction if a series of similar blasts occurred today. Imagine the public mourning and recriminations. Instead, these appear to be the attacks that didn't happen.

Canadian authorities reportedly had been tracking the group through e-mail, Internet chat rooms and telephone conversations. The Associated Press quoted an unnamed U.S. official as saying investigators are looking for connections between the detainees and suspected Islamic militants held in the U.S., Britain, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Denmark and Sweden.

How close were any attacks? "It came to a point where our concern for the safety and security of the public far outweighed our appetite for collecting evidence," said Mike McDonell, deputy commissioner for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Add it up and this case has the potential to encompass a perfect confluence of issues--fanatical terror plots, electronic eavesdropping, the presence of enemies within, data mining--related to the war against terrorism now being waged by the U.S. and many other governments.

The lack of any significant North American attack since Sept. 11, 2001, has lulled many Americans into thinking that preparedness, vigilance and resolve are yesterday's necessities. This Canadian case demonstrates the constant nature of the threat facing the U.S. and its allies--and the constant effort needed to preempt it.

Ready as many of us are to condemn government agencies that fumble terror investigations, we tend to fall silent when investigators do foil deadly plots.

If Canadian officials are correct, and if the FBI is right in saying two Georgia men met with some of the Canadians to assess bombing targets, then this takedown is a superb coup.

The lesson in this case for Americans: Yes, it's tempting to yearn for the doe-eyed simplicity of Sept. 10, 2001. Provided we accept the fact that it isn't coming back.