2006 Toronto terrorism case

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On June 2 and June 3, 2006, police and security agencies in Ontario, Canada carried out a series of counter-terrorism raids in the Greater Toronto Area that resulted in the arrest of 17 alleged members of a purported Islamic terrorist cell. Canadian authorities and law-enforcement agencies allege the men had been planning a series of major terrorist assaults on targets in southern Ontario. Another suspect was arrested in this raid 2 months after the initial raid.

Contents

[edit] Allegations

The group was allegedly preparing for a large-scale terrorist attack in southern Ontario, which included detonating truck bombs at at least two locations in Southern Ontario and opening fire in a crowded area. Police alleged they also made plans to storm various buildings such as the Canadian Broadcasting Centre and the Canadian Parliament building, and take hostages. According to one of the suspect's lawyers, they have been accused of planning to "behead the Prime Minister", Stephen Harper, and other leaders.[1][2][3]

Law enforcement authorities have identified other specific targets, including the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)[4] and the Parliamentary Buildings' Peace Tower.[5]

[edit] Charges

  • The 12 adult men are charged in connection with alleged terrorist acts ranging from conspiracy to carry out a terrorist activity, to training for terrorist purposes, to bomb making and illegally importing guns and ammunition.
  • All 12 adults are charged with knowingly participating in a terrorist group for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activity in Mississauga, Toronto, Fort Erie, the Township of Ramara and elsewhere in Ontario, between March 1, 2005 and June 2, 2006.
  • 3 of the 12 are also charged with importing firearms and ammunition into Canada for the benefit of a terrorist group in Mississauga, Toronto, Fort Erie and elsewhere in Ontario, between March 1 and August 14, 2005. They also face a related charge of collecting prohibited weapons and ammunition for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activity during the same time period.
  • Ahmad, Amara, Ansari, Jamal, James, Durrani, Chand alias Shakur, Ghany and Khalid, are charged with receiving training for the purpose of enhancing the ability of a terrorist group to carry out terrorist activity, in Mississauga, Toronto, the Township of Ramara, and elsewhere in the province, between November 27, 2005, and December 31, 2005.
  • Ahmad, Amara, Durrani, Chand and Shakur, face a separate charge of providing training for the purpose of enhancing the ability of a terrorist group to carry out a terrorist act at the same locations and between the same dates.
  • Ahmad, Amara, Ansari, Abdelhaleen, Jamal and Khalid are charged with "doing anything with intent to cause an explosion of an explosive substance that is likely to cause serious bodily harm or death", in Mississauga, Toronto, Fort Erie, the Township of Ramara, and elsewhere in Ontario, between March 1, 2005, and June 2, 2006.
  • The names and charges of the five people under the age of 18 have not been released, due to the privacy provisions of Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act
  • On Friday, February 23, 2007, all charges against the youngest of the accused, a 16-year-old from Scarborough, were stayed in a Brampton, Ontario courtroom. The stay order was announced by an attorney from the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General speaking before an Ontario Superior Court justice.
  • All charges against 2 more youth, were stayed on July 31, 2007 with the conditions imposed under a Peace Bond, the first to be implemented under a terrorism related peace bond, which states that they must not have any communication with their co-accused, they must report to police twice a month, and must seek counselling from their respective Imams.

[edit] The arrests

The raids were carried out by an inter-agency task force, the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET), which coordinated the activities of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), and other police forces, as the operation was spread across several different jurisdictions in southern Ontario, in the area north of Toronto. Each of the 400 police involved in the arrests was required to sign a confidentiality pledge under Canada's Security of Information Act but the fact of the arrests was leaked to the Toronto Star.

The police state that one of the arrested men, 20-year-old Zakaria Amara, ordered three metric tonnes (6600 pounds) of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, a potentially powerful ingredient often used as quarry and mining explosives. This weight has widely been compared to the amount of ammonium nitrate used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in the United States. The official account estimates the ammonium nitrate in the Oklahoma City bomb at 2000 pounds, or about 0.9 metric tons. Therefore, this scale comparison should be interpreted cautiously, as the true amount seized in the arrests could be as little as 38% more, to over 200% more, than was used in Oklahoma City. There was never any serious chance of danger or harm as a harmless substance was substituted for the ammonium nitrate and delivered to the men by the RCMP in a sting operation.[6]

Canadian ammonium nitrate suppliers have publicly stated that after the events of the Oklahoma City bombing, it has been their policy not to deliver any substantial quantity of the chemical to anyone who is not a known customer. As such it would be virtually impossible for someone who is not a commercial farmer to obtain possession of any quantity of the compound. It is therefore unlikely that the suspects could have ordered the compound without raising police suspicion in any case.

In a press conference held after the arrests, the RCMP said that the CSIS had been monitoring the individuals since 2004, joined by the RCMP last year,[7] and that the individuals had planned to blow up unidentified targets in southern Ontario. The suspects, all adherents to Islam, were alleged by CSIS to have been inspired by Al-Qaeda.[8] A direct connection seems unlikely, as none of the suspects are known to be affiliated with the organization.[9] Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, was informed of the raids, as were other political, security and police leaders across Ontario. The investigation started with intelligence officials monitoring Internet chat sites. The suspects were charged under the anti-terrorism legislation passed by Canadian parliament in December 2001 in response to the September 11 attacks in the United States. The June 2 and 3 arrests were only the second time the legislation has been used, and marked one of the largest anti-terrorism arrests in North America.

On July 13, 2006, the Toronto Star reported that an unnamed but well-known member of Toronto's Islamic community had infiltrated the alleged terrorist cell while being on the police payroll as an informant.[10] The Star had earlier reported that another police agent was involved in receiving the ammonium nitrate.[11] On July 16, 2006, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation revealed the individual involved was Mubin Shaikh, a Canadian-born Muslim of Indian heritage.[12]

[edit] The suspects

Fifteen of the suspects appeared in court in the afternoon of June 3, under heavy security. At roughly the same time, the identities of the 12 adult men were revealed:

The identities of the five minors are legally protected by Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Three of the men — Fahim Ahmad, Mohammed Dirie and Yasim Abdi Mohamed — are also alleged to have imported weapons and prohibited ammunition for terrorist purposes in Mississauga, Toronto, Fort Erie and elsewhere in Ontario, between March 1, 2005 and August 14, 2005.

Six of the 17 men arrested have ties to the Al Rahman Islamic Center near Toronto, a Sunni mosque.[17] Another two of those arrested were already serving time in a Kingston, Ontario prison on weapons possession charges.[18] According to the FBI two other men, Syed Ahmed and Ehsanul Sadequee, who were recently arrested in Georgia in the United States on terrorism charges are connected to the case as well.[19]

[edit] Impact on Canada-U.S. relations

The arrests sparked several comments by politicians in the United States regarding the security of Canada, as well that of the United States. Congressman Peter King was reported on June 6 to have said that "there's a large al-Qaeda presence in Canada … because of their very liberal immigration laws, because of how political asylum is granted so easily",[20] without providing evidence to support his statement. On the same day, Representative John Hostettler of Indiana reportedly said that "South Toronto, like those parts of London that are host to the radical imams who influenced the 9/11 terrorists and the shoe bomber, has people who adhere to a militant understanding of Islam". Hostettler's alleged comments were widely criticized in Canada, as there is no area of Toronto known as "South Toronto". Both Canada's Conservative government and the Liberal opposition condemned the "completely uninformed and ignorant remarks".[21][22]

However, the Secretary of State of the United States Condoleezza Rice publicly stated that the White House was satisfied that Canadian authorities have demonstrated that they are being duly vigilant against terrorism.

[edit] Reporting controversy

The initial reports of this incident caused some controversy when a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, Mike McDonell, described the arrested people as representing a "broad strata" of Canadian society[23] and the Toronto Star claimed that it is "difficult to find a common denominator" among them[23], even though all were Muslims and many attended the same mosque. Some individuals in the media, such as Andrew C. McCarthy in National Review, have described this as a tendency of the police and media to whitewash a role of militant Islam in contemporary terrorism.[24] Despite a scarcity of information due to a publication ban, an online documentary entitled Unfair Dealings raised a series of issues around the case.[25]

As of 2008, police informant Mubin Shaikh admitted that "the case is not as strong as suggested" - but still believed that a number of the accused would be found guilty.[26]

[edit] Court proceedings

A preliminary hearing initially started June 4, for the remaining 14 terrorism suspects, was halted by the Crown Attorney on September 24, 2007. The case was to proceed directly to trial. The move (called a preferred indictment or a direct indictment) meant the defence counsel could not hear the balance of the testimony of the Crown's key witness, police informant Mubin Shaikh, who was in the middle of testifying. Another police mole was scheduled to take the stand next.

A preferred direct indictment means that the proceedings against all 14 adults are stayed and a new proceeding against them has begun. As a result, the accused were all re-arrested, including the two who were out on bail, re-charged and they will now have to apply for new bail hearings. And under a direct indictment, the case will go directly to trial without a preliminary hearing.[27]

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ CNN.com - Lawyer: Government says terror plans included beheading - Jun 7, 2006
  3. ^ Terror suspects plotted two separate attacks
  4. ^ TheStar.com - Page Not Found
  5. ^ globeandmail.com: National
  6. ^ TheStar.com - Page Not Found
  7. ^ CTV.ca | RCMP arrests 17, foiling alleged Ont. bomb plot
  8. ^ 17 held in terror plot in Canada -DAWN - Top Stories; June 04, 2006
  9. ^ 17 Held in Plot to Bomb Sites in Ontario - New York Times
  10. ^ TheStar.com - Page Not Found
  11. ^ TheStar.com - Page Not Found
  12. ^ CBC News Indepth: Toronto Bomb Plot
  13. ^ Six of 17 Arrested in Canada's Antiterror Sweep Have Ties to Mosque Near Toronto - New York Times
  14. ^ globeandmail.com
  15. ^ Metro
  16. ^ TheStar.com - Page Not Found
  17. ^ Six of 17 Arrested in Canada's Antiterror Sweep Have Ties to Mosque Near Toronto - New York Times
  18. ^ Six of 17 Arrested in Canada's Antiterror Sweep Have Ties to Mosque Near Toronto - New York Times
  19. ^ The News channel » Propeller
  20. ^ globeandmail.com: World
  21. ^ [2][dead link]
  22. ^ globeandmail.com: National
  23. ^ a b "The ties that bind 17 suspects?", Toronto Star, June 4, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-03-27. 
  24. ^ Andrew C. McCarthy on At War & Media on National Review Online
  25. ^ Law is Cool » Unfair Dealing - Another Independent Documentary
  26. ^ TheFacesBehind.net, Mubin Shaikh:CSIS Informant, Key Witness, April 2008
  27. ^ Teotonio, Isabel. "Homegrown terror case goes to trial", The Toronto Star, 2007-09-24. Retrieved on 2007-09-24. 

[edit] External links

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2006 Toronto terrorism case
Accused
Suspected colleagues
Syed Ahmed · Ehsanul Sadequee
Wrongly accused
Defense attorneys
Paul Burstein · Breese Davies · Dennis Edney · Anser Farooq · Rocco Galati · David Kolinsky · Donald McLeod · David Mercury · Faisal Mirza · Michael A. Moon · Edward Sapiano · Paul Slansky · Peter Zaduk
CSIS informant
‡ denotes suspects released on bail.
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Alleged Canadian Militants in the War on Terrorism
Khadr family
2006 Toronto terrorism arrests
Montreal Millennium Plot
Alleged al-Qaeda members
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Canadians in the Iraqi Insurgency
Canadians in Chechnya
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