More arrests expected

Toronto mosque vandalized as police continue probe into homegrown menace

Published: Monday, June 05, 2006

More arrests are expected on the heels of this weekend's stunning raids that netted 17 terrorism suspects in the Toronto area, Canada's senior lawmakers said yesterday.

Despite the arrests, and police assurances that the threat allegedly posed by this group had been "removed," security officials are still grilling individuals who may be connected, or may have vital information about the alleged plot to bomb targets in Ontario.

Reports suggest those targets may have included the Canadian Security Intelligence Service office in Toronto -- where the windows of a mosque were smashed by vandals, apparently in a reaction to the alleged bomb plot -- the CN Tower, as well as Parliament Hill.

"It's not over," said Liberal Senator Colin Kenny, who as chairman of the Senate's national security committee, was briefed on the raids. "It's very much 'stay tuned'."

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, responsible for both CSIS and the RCMP, said the arrests could come this week as investigators move to ensure no terror threats elude their grasp.

"The RCMP and CSIS have both indicated that discussions are ongoing and there's still people that they're talking to, not just as the weekend concludes, but into next week and we'll just see what comes from all of that," Mr. Day said in an interview with Global National.

Mr. Day did not say who investigators are talking to, nor what role those individuals may have played within the alleged terror group. However, a Liberal MP and former parliamentary secretary to the previous Liberal public safety minister, suggested it would be naive to think the threat of terrorism on Canadian soil has been eradicated.

"Wherever you have political conflict, there's a risk that terrorism can occur," said Liberal MP Derek Lee, a former parliamentary secretary to the minister of public safety. "We should assume that in terms of risks or threats to Canada that there's more than one out there."

Security officials were still grilling the 17 men and teenaged boys arrested in the weekend sweeps, as the suspects faced a bail hearing tomorrow. The court date is a key moment when police have to disclose publicly for the first time details about their case.

In an interview with the Citizen, Mr. Kenny said police are being cautious about what they say publicly because they still have outstanding warrants that could lead to further arrests.

Though there has been widespread speculation about the possible targets in the bombing plot, Mr. Kenny said police would say nothing about the targets because that could have a direct impact on their ability to capture other suspects.

"Talking about the targets at this point will jeopardize the remaining work that has to be done," Mr. Kenny said. "People will start making links and that could cause people to get out of here."

Officials did rule out on Saturday reports that the Toronto transit system had been a target.

Mr. Kenny said Canadians could get more of a glimpse into the inner workings of the bomb plot at tomorrow's bail hearing.

"They'll have to disclose some information at the bail hearing. But I don't think they're going to disclose anything they're absolutely compelled to, to keep these people, until they're satisfied they've tracked every dog to ground," Mr. Kenny said.

Despite the tight-lipped approach by law enforcement, one underlying fact emerged yesterday: before the arrests, Canada was on the verge of a national tragedy that could have been more serious than the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building that killed 168 people.

In the Toronto raids, police recovered three times the amount of ammonium nitrate as was used in the Oklahoma City truck bomb.

"This was close," Michael Wilson, Canada's ambassador to Washington, told CNN's Late Edition yesterday. "They were close to being able to do some real damage."

Mr. Kenny said that Canadians were lucky to have averted what could have been a significant attack on their soil.

"It's one thing for some young people to be talking about something," he said. "It's another thing when you're actually acquiring the wherewithal to do it. You're right on the brink of it -- you're a car rental or a truck rental away from a really bad day."

Both Mr. Kenny and Mr. Day praised the work of law enforcement, but clashed over the success of efforts in Ottawa to secure Canadians.

Mr. Day said the thwarted attack is "proof positive" that Canada is an active participant in the fight against international terrorism, but he assured Canadians that both government and law enforcement are prepared to tackle that threat.

"It shows that ... we are on the right track when we say that we want to have a secure nation," he said. "If you want to have a secure nation then you have to be vigilant. If you want to be vigilant, that means you've got to give the resources to your security forces."

Mr. Kenny said he is happy with Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's plans to add 1,000 new RCMP officers, but that 3,000 are needed to recover from the damage done by Liberal cost-cutting measures in the 1990s.

Mr. Kenny said Canada's security apparatus, be it the RCMP or CSIS, faces serious deficiencies in battling the emerging threat of homegrown terrorists. All of those arrested Saturday were either born in Canada, or raised in Canada from a young age.

Days before the arrests, Mr. Kenny's Senate committee heard testimony from Jack Hooper, CSIS deputy director of operations, about the growing threat of homegrown terrorists.

Mr. Kenny said it requires luck "and it requires an intelligence capacity we simply don't have," adding that help from ethnic communities is also needed.

"It requires the confidence of the communities these people come from to understand that we're supportive of them and we're not painting them all with the same brush, (and) their assistance is going to be fundamental to helping the authorities solve this."

Mr. Day told CTV's Question Period yesterday that he would be taking steps today to reach out to Muslims and other communities.

"I'll be meeting with our cross-cultural round table on these types of issues, and they report to the public safety department," he said. "These are individuals who represent a variety of our ethnic and cultural communities across Canada, so the message goes out very clearly that what we're talking about is people who have criminal intentions on other Canadians."

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Arrests are News Around World

Allegations of a thwarted terrorist attack in southern Ontario didn't just make headlines in Canada yesterday -- the news spread like wildfire around the globe. The New York Times, Washington Post and Washington Times all displayed the story prominently on the front page of their Sunday editions. The Fox News website flashed "Canadian Authorities Arrest 17 Suspects on Terror Charges," and the Arab all-news channel Al Jazeera's website stated in similar fashion: "Canada Holds 17 in Terror Attack Plot." Across the Atlantic, the Daily Telegraph wrote about "the country's biggest anti-terrorism swoop" that stopped "Al Qaida-inspired bomb attacks" under the headline: "Police foil Toronto cell's 'terrorist spectacular'." In Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald reported: "Canadians say they have foiled bomb attacks."

Source: The Ottawa Citizen