Posted on 11/04/2005 12:33:24 PM PST by OldWNewW
Terrorism and Security: Major Canadian Media Organizations Possibly a Haven for Single-Issue Activists
Government policy analyst lodges request for investigation of lop-sided media coverage of two terrorism related cases. Poor journalism widespread while watchdog bodies ineffective or biased.
(I-Newswire) - Literally millions of Canadians have read the newspapers or seen coverage of the cases of Muhammed Mahjoub, a suspected terrorist being held indefinitely on a secret service security certificate, and Maher Arar, also suspected of having terrorist connections.
While Canadian media such as the CBC and the Canadian Press have provided ample opportunities for Maher Arar and Muhammed Mahjoub and supporters to air their grievances with Canadian government, in particular the RCMP and CSIS, major Canadian media have provided much less time and space for government representatives to offer their rebuttals and explanations as to the background for their actions. Mr Gunnar K. A. Njalsson, a Quebec government policy analyst and publishing executive, used to sifting through myriads of documents and comparing sources, is one citizen who has reacted to what he sees as the inferior handling of these cases by the CBC and the Canadian Press ( CP ). After having noticed that supporters of hunger striking terrorist suspect Mahjoub were allowed ample coverage while government officials were allowed little or no opportunity to respond to the allegations, Mr Njalsson reacted by pointing these and other irregularities out to editors at the CP and the CBC.
“There was no response from any of these editors or journalists and then came the publication of the Toope Fact Finding Report in the Arar case. In the case of this Arar Commission report where Maher Arar and several other persons who claim having been tortured in Syria were interviewed, the CBC, CP and other Canadian media paid no attention to the nature of the report as only taking a stance on the probability of some truth to these claims. It also stated that one organization and a witness had clearly embellished and exaggerated their accounts. In addition, it stated that none of those interviewed had been under oath and that Arar and several others had communicated with each other prior to the interviews. These are important facts!” Njalsson explains.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ( CRTC ), a federal watchdog body for broadcasting as well as the volunteer organization Canadian Journalists for Free Expression ( CJFE ) were contacted by Njalsson who described his experience with these bodies as very alarming. “The CRTC, which is a federal body, never confirmed or responded to our complaint which was sent twice. CJFE was contacted numerous times, but after having examined their website and reviewed the types of issues they have become involved with in the past, I quickly understood that my issue did not position very well within the political spectrum of this organization. But these complaints have absolutely nothing to do with left- or right-wing politics or with this or that ideology; the issues here are good journalism and balanced, honest reporting” says Gunnar K. A. Njalsson who has now requested a federal audit of the CRTC’s handling of complaints. In addition, he has been in contact with several parliamentarian groups to request action to address growing concerns with poor journalism and widen the participation in watchdog bodies to include a significant group of auditors who are not journalists.
What began as a series of e-mails to editors at the CBC and the CP has now grown into an outright campaign to ensure journalists are aware that freedom of the press also implies responsibilities. “Perhaps the most important of these responsibilities are accountability to the public for what they report, willingness to correct errors, letting each party be heard and ultimately the courage on the part of certain journalists to back away from a story if they are too emotionally or politically involved in the subject matter. Alarmingly, each of these aspects appears to be missing in connection with my experiences with the CBC and the Canadian Press.” Njalsson concludes.
The CRTC and CJFE were advised of issues in this article but declined to respond.
1990 --: (AZ A HOTBED OF ISLAMOFASCISM --- see AL QAEDA, MURAK AL DURI, WMD, WADIH EL HAGE, 1998 US AFRICA EMBASSY BOMBINGS) By 1990, Arizona became one of the main centers in the US for radical Muslims, and it remains so through 9/11. For instance, a terrorism expert will later call the principal mosque in Tuscon, Arizona, the focal point of “basically, the first cell of al Qaeda in the United States; that is where it all started.” A number of future al-Qaeda leaders live in Arizona in the early 1990s, including Mubarak al Duri, al-Qaeda’s chief agent attempting to purchase weapons of mass destruction, and Wadih El-Hage, bin Laden’s personal secretary who will later be convicted for a role in the 1998 US embassy bombings (see August 7, 1998). The founder of the mosque, Wael Hamza Jelaidan, is later considered one of the founders of al-Qaeda and its logistics chief. ------- "Profile: Mubarak al Duri," source unknown
1990s early to 1995? : (BIN LADEN HIRES MOHAMED MAHJOUB TO RUN HIS IRRIGATION PROJECT IN SUDAN UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF IRAQI MUBARAK AL DURI - See TORONTO CELL, TUCSON CELL, SUDAN CELL) In the early 1990s, bin Laden hired Mr. Mahjoub to run Al Thimar Al-Mubaraka, a 400,000-hectare irrigation project that the United States contends was used to finance al-Qaeda. Mr. Mahjoub's immediate supervisor at the time was Al Duri. Mr. Mahjoub said he only ran the farm and had no involvement in terrorism, but the judge found his account "implausible."----- "Bin Laden WMD chief once lived in B.C. : Judge upholds detention of Egyptian associate," Stewart Bell, National Post [Canada], Published: Saturday, November 26, 2005
1995 : (MOHAMED MAHJOUB ARRIVES IN CANADA AND CLAIMS REFUGEE STATUS) --- "Bin Laden WMD chief once lived in B.C. : Judge upholds detention of Egyptian associate," Stewart Bell, National Post [Canada], Published: Saturday, November 26, 2005
DECEMBER 2005 : (IRAQI MUBARAK AL DURI ASSOCIATES WITH MOHAMED MAHJOUB -- See TORONTO CELL) ...But she [Judge Dawson] said [Iraqi Mubarak] Al Duri had associated with Toronto-based terror suspect Mohamed Mahjoub after December, 1995, and may have also associated with terrorist Essam Marzouk, who lived in B.C. until 1998.The disclosure was contained in a court decision concerning Mr. [Mohammed] Mahjoub, a suspected high-level member of Egyptian terrorist faction Vanguards of Conquest who was arrested in Toronto in June, 2000.----- "Bin Laden WMD chief once lived in B.C. : Judge upholds detention of Egyptian associate," Stewart Bell, National Post [Canada], Published: Saturday, November 26, 2005
2000 : (CANADA : MOHAMED MAHJOUB IS ARRESTED ON TERORISM CHARGES) Five years after flying to Canada and making a refugee claim, Mr. [Mohamed] Mahjoub was arrested for terrorism in 2000. He told Canadian authorities he had not been in contact with [Iraqi Mubarak ] Al Duri since leaving Sudan, but a search of his home turned up a paper with Al Duri's home and cellphone numbers.The Canadian Security Intelligence Service says Mr. Mahjoub is wanted by Egypt for terrorism and since coming to Canada he has maintained contact with "individuals associated with the international Islamic terrorist milieu.""The service also believes that the degree of Mahjoub's dedication to the cause, and Mahjoub's support for the Al Jihad/Vanguards of Conquest terrorist agenda, is such that he would resort to violence and would direct others to resort to violence if he was ordered to do so by leaders such as Osama bin Laden."----- "Bin Laden WMD chief once lived in B.C. : Judge upholds detention of Egyptian associate," Stewart Bell, National Post [Canada], Published: Saturday, November 26, 2005
NOVEMBER 25, 2005 : (IRAQI MUBARAK AL DURI - See TUCSON CELL, TORONTO CELL, VANCOUVER CELL, WMD) Osama bin Laden's chief ...[WMD] broker is a former resident of a Vancouver suburb, a Federal Court judge disclosed yesterday in ruling on a related case. In a 105-page decision handed down in Ottawa, Judge Eleanor Dawson said Canadian intelligence investigators had determined that Mubarak Al Duri, an Iraqi, had once lived in Richmond, B.C.----- "Bin Laden WMD chief once lived in B.C. : Judge upholds detention of Egyptian associate," Stewart Bell, National Post [Canada], Published: Saturday, November 26, 2005
DECEMBER 2005 : (IRAQI MUBARAK AL DURI ASSOCIATES WITH MOHAMED MAHJOUB -- See TORONTO CELL) ...But she [Judge Dawson] said [Iraqi Mubarak] Al Duri had associated with Toronto-based terror suspect Mohamed Mahjoub after December, 1995, and may have also associated with terrorist Essam Marzouk, who lived in B.C. until 1998.The disclosure was contained in a court decision concerning Mr. [Mohammed] Mahjoub, a suspected high-level member of Egyptian terrorist faction Vanguards of Conquest who was arrested in Toronto in June, 2000.----- "Bin Laden WMD chief once lived in B.C. : Judge upholds detention of Egyptian associate," Stewart Bell, National Post [Canada], Published: Saturday, November 26, 2005
Should be :
DECEMBER 1995 or later : (IRAQI MUBARAK AL DURI ASSOCIATES WITH MOHAMED MAHJOUB -- See TORONTO CELL) ...But she [Judge Dawson] said [Iraqi Mubarak] Al Duri had associated with Toronto-based terror suspect Mohamed Mahjoub after December, 1995, and may have also associated with terrorist Essam Marzouk, who lived in B.C. until 1998.The disclosure was contained in a court decision concerning Mr. [Mohammed] Mahjoub, a suspected high-level member of Egyptian terrorist faction Vanguards of Conquest who was arrested in Toronto in June, 2000.----- "Bin Laden WMD chief once lived in B.C. : Judge upholds detention of Egyptian associate," Stewart Bell, National Post [Canada], Published: Saturday, November 26, 2005
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