Suspected Terrorists Arrested in Toronto

[August1991]

TORONTO (AP) -- At least 10 suspects were arrested in the Toronto area on terrorism-related charges, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said late Friday.

The Canadian Press quoted an unnamed police source as saying the charges were related to an explosives plot in Ontario, Canada's largest province.

The arrests were made throughout the day and more were expected overnight, with some 400 officers involved, said RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Michele Paradis.

The national police force said it would reveal more details at a news conference Saturday.

''Most of the police services throughout the greater Toronto area have been involved,'' Paradis said.

New York Times

Well, this will be story for discussion.

[Argus]

TORONTO (AP) -- At least 10 suspects were arrested in the Toronto area on terrorism-related charges, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said late Friday.

The Canadian Press quoted an unnamed police source as saying the charges were related to an explosives plot in Ontario, Canada's largest province.

The arrests were made throughout the day and more were expected overnight, with some 400 officers involved, said RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Michele Paradis.

The national police force said it would reveal more details at a news conference Saturday.

''Most of the police services throughout the greater Toronto area have been involved,'' Paradis said.

New York Times

Well, this will be story for discussion.

Let's just pray there was no racial profiling going on here!!

[scribblet]

Well, hey, its a plot you know, Harper, RCMP and CSIS are all in on it.

3 Tons of Ammonium Nitrate, and other materials for making explosive, are we still sitting ducks, or will the naysayers continue to deny it.

[Argus]

Well, hey, its a plot you know, Harper, RCMP and CSIS are all in on it.

3 Tons of Ammonium Nitrate, and other materials for making explosive, are we still sitting ducks, or will the naysayers continue to deny it.

I'm shocked! Shocked! It seems they were.... Muslims! I can hardly believe it! Would anyone else have suspected that!?

BTW, there is a stupid cow (Rosemary Thompson) on CTV now suggesting that our role in Afghanistan might be responsible for provoking such a thing, as well as our closeness to George Bush. Yet this group first caught the attention of CSIS two years ago, and apparently whatever they were doing and saying was enough to provoke continuous surveillance since then.

What should be especially noteworthy, though it does not surprise me, is that although many are immigrants, as one would expected, a number of them are "home grown" terrorists. They were raised here in Canada. That did nothing to dissuade them from wanting to launch a jihad against us, however, because, I think we'll discover, they were not raised AS Canadians. They were born and raised as foreigners on Canadian soil. We have allowed this to happen by taking in too many immigrants in too short a period of time. The result of which is that we have huge foreign communities within Canada's borders. Their kids are raised in those communities, speaking those languages first, watching satellite TV from "home", watching movies from "home", reading newspapers from "home" and, often as not, attending special ethnic/religious schools to retain their "culture" and "values".

Because of this, some of these "Canadians" might as well have grown up in Beirut or Tehran.

The solution is obvious; halt immigration for twenty to thirty years to allow the mass of immigrants here to become absorbed into the general population.

As a secondary solution, halt all immigration from Muslim countries. For any reason. If Muslim parents want their kids to go "home" to find a bride or groom they can damned well stay there. The authorities should also pay a lot closer attention to Muslim religious schools in Canada to see just what crap they are feeding into the minds of these kids.

[August1991]

Well, hey, its a plot you know, Harper, RCMP and CSIS are all in on it.

Given the lunatic conspiracy theories about the WTC, I wouldn't be surprised to see posts suggesting that all of this evidence was planted. The CIA, under Bush direction, did this with Harper's connivance to advance the cause of, well, I don't know exactly - the cause of Dr. Evil?

Here's a small example of how this starts:

Just three days ago, Sun columnist Joe Warmington wrote about two men spotted filming the subway system on May 23 at Keele station, which raised alarm bells with Toronto Police and CSIS.

But sources also tell the Sun that the RCMP "planted" that story with the media, though reasons remain unclear.

Canoe

----

There were 17 arrested of which 5 were young offenders. Will they be released without any criminal record when they turn 18?

Reports state that some were Canadian "residents" and some were Canadian citizens. What is this supposed to mean?

There are also reports about terrorist training camps in rural southern Ontario. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

[Guest Warwick Green]

BTW, there is a stupid cow (Rosemary Thompson) on CTV now suggesting that our role in Afghanistan might be responsible for provoking such a thing, as well as our closeness to George Bush. Yet this group first caught the attention of CSIS two years ago, and apparently whatever they were doing and saying was enough to provoke continuous surveillance since then.

CTV is almost the house organ for the Liberal Party. They are owned by Bell who had executives working for the Liberals in the last election.

[Argus]

Reports state that some were Canadian "residents" and some were Canadian citizens. What is this supposed to mean?

There are also reports about terrorist training camps in rural southern Ontario. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Western jihadist youth counterculture is the next phase in the evolution of global terrorism. Since becoming a credible threat in the late 1980s, al-Qaeda has decentralized and spread from its origins in Pakistan and Afghanistan to the point that a "high percentage" of the extremists on the CSIS radar screen are now Canadian-born. "These individuals are part of Western society, and their 'Canadianness' makes detection more difficult," a "secret" CSIS report notes.

Generation Jihad encompasses a variety of ethnic backgrounds, and includes Africans and South Asians as well as converts to Islam. Some are educated and computer-literate, while others have criminal records and more closely fit the profile of street-gang culture.

But they share a devotion to puritanical Islam, contempt for non-Muslims (and other Muslims deemed not sufficiently Islamist) and a seething anger at what they see as the worldwide oppression of Muslims. On top of that, they believe that terrorist violence is a justified response to the "war on Islam" they are convinced the West is waging in such places as Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as within Western countries such as Canada, which have arrested Muslims for terrorism.

Homegrown Terrorists

[Leafless]

Argus

"They are "homegrown." In other words, they have emerged from within Canada, rather than infiltrating it from abroad. They are insiders, not outsiders like Millennium Bomber Ahmed Ressam, who was behind Canada's last major terrorism scare in 1999."

This is not at all surprising when you consider the Canadian cultural volatile cocktail mix that Canada nurtured thriugh it's concept of 'Official Multiculturalism'.

You would assume Canada would have learned it's cultural lesson trying to culturally blend the failed English-French cultural experience but rather proceeds into further unchartered volatile cultural waters.

This is not surprising, not surprising at all as we have many Islamic supporters right on this site.

[Riverwind]

BTW, there is a stupid cow (Rosemary Thompson) on CTV now suggesting that our role in Afghanistan might be responsible for provoking such a thing, as well as our closeness to George Bush. Yet this group first caught the attention of CSIS two years ago, and apparently whatever they were doing and saying was enough to provoke continuous surveillance since then.

A few Canadians got together to discuss jihad a couple years ago does not mean they had an intention to ever carry out such an attack. People in private groups discuss all sorts of appalling things that they never carry out - talking about them privately with like minded people is one way to blow off some steam. It is quite possible that Canada's involvement in Afganistan turned what was a talking club into an active terrorist cell. We will never know the truth of the matter, however, you cannot dismiss the theory that Afganistan and these guys are linked.

[geoffrey]

BTW, there is a stupid cow (Rosemary Thompson) on CTV now suggesting that our role in Afghanistan might be responsible for provoking such a thing, as well as our closeness to George Bush. Yet this group first caught the attention of CSIS two years ago, and apparently whatever they were doing and saying was enough to provoke continuous surveillance since then.

A few Canadians got together to discuss jihad a couple years ago does not mean they had an intention to ever carry out such an attack. People in private groups discuss all sorts of appalling things that they never carry out - talking about them privately with like minded people is one way to blow off some steam. It is quite possible that Canada's involvement in Afganistan turned what was a talking club into an active terrorist cell. We will never know the truth of the matter, however, you cannot dismiss the theory that Afganistan and these guys are linked.

Can't dismiss it no, but it's unlikely.

The attacks against Australians in Bali were before their envolvment in Iraq. It doesn't seem like the extremists care much about what your doing in the world, just that you aren't muslim and your an easy target.

This kind of puts Canada at the top of the ideal list. Troubling yes, good to see we are locking these idiots up, though its frightening to know that we will never catch them all.

[Riverwind]

The attacks against Australians in Bali were before their envolvment in Iraq. It doesn't seem like the extremists care much about what your doing in the world, just that you aren't muslim and your an easy target.

Bali is a completely different situtation. The Bali bombings, like similar killings of foreigners in Egypt, occurred in a country where civil rights are limited and Islamic radicals are fighting against their own gov't. I think the most likely explanation is Afghanistan was the tipping point for these guys - without that justification these guys probably would have been no more scary than the guys who dress up in fatigues and spends a weekend with guns and ammo in the forest.

[geoffrey]

The attacks against Australians in Bali were before their envolvment in Iraq. It doesn't seem like the extremists care much about what your doing in the world, just that you aren't muslim and your an easy target.

Bali is a completely different situtation. The Bali bombings, like similar killings of foreigners in Egypt, occurred in a country where civil rights are limited and Islamic radicals are fighting against their own gov't. I think the most likely explanation is Afghanistan was the tipping point for these guys - without that justification these guys probably would have been no more scary than the guys who dress up in fatigues and spends a weekend with guns and ammo in the forest.

I disagree here. Those crazy forest dwelling anarchist types pretty much will never cause any harm, let them play with their guns, maybe they'll shoot each other?

Anyways, this Islamic terrorists clearly believe their god is telling them to kill all the infidels and 'liberate' their brethren in the Middle East. People getting direction to kill others from god is not good in my books. There is nothing that could change these people, they are 100% set on killing infidels. I don't see what Afghanistan would matter.

[August1991]

Following is a list including the names, ages and addresses of the men who have been arrested and can be named.

Fahim Ahmad, 21, Toronto;

Zakaria Amara, 20, Mississauga, Ont.;

Asad Ansari, 21, Mississauga;

Shareef Abdelhaleen, 30, Mississauga;

Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, Mississauga;

Mohammed Dirie, 22, Kingston, Ont.;

Yasim Abdi Mohamed, 24, Kingston;

Jahmaal James, 23, Toronto;

Amin Mohamed Durrani, 19, Toronto;

Steven Vikash Chand alias Abdul Shakur 25, Toronto;

Ahmad Mustafa Ghany, 21, Mississauga;

Saad Khalid, 19, of Eclipse Avenue, Mississauga

CTV

The other five can't be named. (I don't know what the rest of the world is going to think of Canadian law when it is explained that we can't publish the names of people accused of terrorism because they are underage.)

Anyone living on Eclipse Avenue in Mississauga is going to be answering questions today.

[Riverwind]

I disagree here. Those crazy forest dwelling anarchist types pretty much will never cause any harm, let them play with their guns, maybe they'll shoot each other?

Does the name Timothy McVeigh mean anything to you? Anyone playing violance can cross the line into terrorism. The question then becomes - what pushed them over the edge?

[August1991]

I think the most likely explanation is Afghanistan was the tipping point for these guys - without that justification these guys probably would have been no more scary than the guys who dress up in fatigues and spends a weekend with guns and ammo in the forest.

Riverwind, that argument is similar to saying "I think the tipping point was the short skirt she was wearing. Until then, he was just some guy who was being a jerk."

Are you really saying that Canadians provoked these otherwise innocent young men?

Here's a long article about some of these guys arrested yesterday:

Fahim Ahmad, who was arrested as part of yesterday's sweep, was living with his wife and children in a Scarborough apartment in August 2005, while authorities were watching him closely. The 22-year-old allegedly rented a car for two Toronto-area men to go to the U.S.

The licence plate was flagged so it could be pulled over upon its return to Canada, sources told the Star and court documents confirm. On Aug. 13, at 5:30 a.m., a student working with the Canada Border Services Agency at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie pulled over the white Buick that Ahmad had rented, which was being driven by Yasin Mohamed, 24, of Toronto, with Ali Dirie, 22, whose last address was in Markham, as a passenger.

The car was targeted because its plate number came back with the warning: "Look out, possible narcotic involvement," on a customs database, court documents state.

....

During a Senate committee review of Canada's anti-terrorism legislation, now-retired CSIS deputy director Dale Neufeld spoke at length about Canadian-born radicalized youths.

"It's the second generation, the children of Muslims who are born in this country. They have a very normal upbringing, according to our analysis, but at some point in their teenage years or young 20s, they decide that radical Islam is the path they want to take," Neufeld said.

"The other (concern) is young Canadians who are generally quite disillusioned, which is again very disturbing because it's hard to detect and hard to investigate. They're the kids who don't do well in high school, but could do anything. They could become petty criminals. They could get involved in the drug culture. They might join a motorcycle gang. We're now seeing a number of examples where they decide to take up Islam in the radical form.

Toronto Star

If anything, this reminds in a tangential way of Marc Lepine. I suspect these young men despise western society while enjoying the fruits of western materialism. They are particularly offended by the socially liberal ideas now associated with the Left. These young men say nothing however, perfectly aware of how unpolitically correct their true beliefs are.

IME, the most shocking aspect of a Muslim lifestyle is the treatment of women. Islamic societies are profoundly misogynist. There are only men on that list and despite living in Canada for many years, I wonder what they truly think of western women.

[sharkman]

I disagree here. Those crazy forest dwelling anarchist types pretty much will never cause any harm, let them play with their guns, maybe they'll shoot each other?

Does the name Timothy McVeigh mean anything to you? Anyone playing violance can cross the line into terrorism. The question then becomes - what pushed them over the edge?

We already know what pushed them over the edge; Allah.

[Charles Anthony]

If these averted terrorist plots are not a justification for beefing up the Canadian military, I do not know what is!

CAVEAT: Where the hell do buy "3 Tons of Ammonium Nitrate" anyway???

Who ever sold it to them should be accountable too.

[August1991]

I see a difference between two guys renting a truck and and then one of them committing a horrific crime, and then 19 foreign guys flying airplanes into big buildings.

More practically, I'm just not worried about people like McVeigh doing any harm.

-----

The following is alleged to be a poem by one of those arrested:

A LITTLE MUSLIM FROM PALESTINE

I'll always be a contender

Yes, I know my bones are very tender

And by Allah you won't see me surrender

Look at my eyes? You'll see no butterflies

My home is filled with cries... due to all the lost lives

But I swear by Allah I'll never compromise

I'll still throw the stones even with my broken bones

Why can't I hear from you, don't you have any phones?

Ya I forgot, your not on the chase, try it out and put your self in my place

Soon I'll return to my lord , the one that deserves every grace

Oh you don't have to worry cause of me you'll find no trace

It really is to late, why did you wait?

You could have sent me at least one dinner plate

I guess it is my fate

And La Ilaha Illa Allah is my mate.

Contributed by : Zakaria Amara

Link (From Stephen Taylor)

If this is true, I would add "writing atrocious poetry" to the list of accusations.

[GostHacked]

You will see more of this in the news in the weeks to come. 'Twarted terror attacks'.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/06/...rror/index.html

Al-Qeada INSPIRED. Readers are going to automaticaly (wonder why?) think that this was an actual Al-queda plot when it was not. Just throw that in there to make people more scared. They were all canadian redisents legaly by the looks of things. And even the CSIS director told us in the news that the threat of terrorism from within is higher than it is from without.

There will be another attack attempt, that is for sure. Where and when? Don't know. But I can tell you for sure you will see more of this in the news this year.

Federal agencies including border and intelligence agents worked with the police under the auspices of the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, Paradis said.

Here you have it, US and Canadian authorities working on it. I am just hoping we used better intelligence than our American counterparts. So I have no doubts that you had American CIA or FBI agents working with the police in Toronto.

This one was 'thwarted' just to kind of wake us up, or put more fear into us. The next one will be quite real.

[August1991]

I wonder if this is how they were caught:

Ottawa, June 16, 2005 – Canadian fertilizer manufacturers, distributors and retailers are working together with government and law enforcement agencies to reduce the potential for criminal misuse of ammonium nitrate through an updated awareness campaign called “On Guard for Canada”.

The “On Guard for Canada” campaign urges everyone who handles ammonium nitrate to implement

security plans, maintain records of all sales of ammonium nitrate and alert law enforcement officials

of suspicious activity by calling a toll-free hotline (1-800-387-0020) operated by the Royal Canadian

Mounted Police (RCMP). The program draws on The Fertilizer Institute’s “America’s Security

Begins with You” initiative.

Canadian Fertilizer Institute

These guys must have got the 3 tonnes of the stuff from somewhere. So, someone had to have filled out a report.

Now, I don't know if this supports the idea of a gun registry or is just a reminder of how a good reporting system works.

[BHS]

Interesting. A major police raid in London yesterday netted two brothers who were also accused of bomb-building. These two incidents are so close together I'm tempted to think there may be a connection.

Ammonium nitrate is a common agricultural product. To purchase 3 tonnes of it isn't unthinkable, but you would need a working farm in order to avoid raising suspicions. Is this further evidence to support the hinterland training facility story?

That they've moved the ammonium nitrate into the city indicates that they were close to the point of building and delivering the bomb. I'm keen to hear what their intended target was. The garage of an office building on Bay Street, perhaps? They'd need security clearance to get into the loading area, so perhaps one of the accused worked as a security officer. We'll have to wait for further personal details. It's tempting to think they'd want to attack the biggest high profile target, being the CN tower, but they'd have to know that a cube van fertalizer bomb wouldn't be big enough to do the trick. That thing is frickin' huge at the base, like an office tower build out of solid concrete.

As for the Young Offenders Act aspect of this story, I don't think the rest of the world will care. If you've already bought into the concept that terrorism is merely a criminal act, it follows that it is appropriate to treat terrorists like criminals and young terrorists like juvenile delinquents. The only people who will be upset by this are people who don't buy that terrorists are merely criminals ie. American conservatives. And we in Canada hardly go about our business trying to please them.

[August1991]

That they've moved the ammonium nitrate into the city indicates that they were close to the point of building and delivering the bomb. I'm keen to hear what their intended target was. The garage of an office building on Bay Street, perhaps? They'd need security clearance to get into the loading area, so perhaps one of the accused worked as a security officer.

The Toronto Star linked above says:

The group arrested yesterday allegedly had a list of targets, sources have told the Star, and the Toronto headquarters of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service was one of them.

So were the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa and a smattering of other high-profile, heavily populated areas. But since most of the suspects lived in the GTA, it was the potential threat to the spy service's office and the chaos an attack would create in the heart of Toronto that concerned CSIS most.

Another source mentioned a "training camp" near Barry's Bay, Ontario. (Heck, I've driven through Barry's Bay. It's convenient to Ottawa and Toronto and it's a summer resort area for people from the city.)

The Toronto Star also suggests that the group was caught by Internet surveillance but I still think it would be hard for a city person with an Arabic name to get 3 tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer without drawing attention.

This has all the makings of good intelligence work.

[Riverwind]

Riverwind, that argument is similar to saying "I think the tipping point was the short skirt she was wearing. Until then, he was just some guy who was being a jerk." Are you really saying that Canadians provoked these otherwise innocent young men?

Not really. I am just refuting the assertion that Canada's involvement in Afghanistan had nothing to do with these guys. I am not justfying what they were planning to do. I should also add that I did not say that Canada should _not_ have made the decision to go into Afghanistan after 9/11. The only thing I am saying is that homegrown terrorists are the price we have to pay for making decisions like that.

[killjoy]

Not for nothing but a lot of people do base the idea of terror attacks against Canada within the context of our involvement in Afghanistan and 9/11...ie. if we weren't there this wouldn't have happened.

Does anyone remeber Ressam and his crew, who were planning a terrorist attack in Jewish Montreal? In 1999, BTW, before 911 or Afghanistan. The terrorists were trained there, however.

Afghanistan IS our problem. If the Taliban return, and are allowed to set up more training camps, who do you think will be number 2 or 3 on their list of targets? Even if we did leave now?

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin', y'know?

.

[Johnny Utah]

This shows Canada is not imune from possible Terrorism.