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Why suspects dropped Parliament plot
Canadian Press via Sun Media ^ | 2006-06-07 | Jim Bronskill

Posted on 06/08/2006 7:51:50 AM PDT by Clive

OTTAWA (CP) - An alleged plot to take MPs hostage on Parliament Hill was abandoned at an early stage because the people involved - who hail from southern Ontario - knew little about Ottawa, The Canadian Press has learned.

The accused conspirators are being interrogated about any possible plans to attack targets in the United States or links to sympathizers south of the border, sources also indicate. The public was shocked to hear a group arrested on terrorism-related charges had supposedly planned to storm Parliament, seize politicians and behead the prime minister.

An insider who has had knowledge of the investigation for several months said the idea was dropped some time ago because the people involved in the conspiracy were too unfamiliar with the nation's capital.

The scope of the group's apparent intentions suggests sophistication and detailed planning, but in reality their scheme appeared to be haphazard.

One source described them as a rag-tag assembly of "losers." But he went on to note that the men accused of the London bombings last July were similarly dismissed, yet still managed to inflict considerable carnage.

Fifteen of those charged in the Canadian police sweep are from the Greater Toronto Area, while two others are currently jailed in Kingston, Ont.

Instead of taking on the challenge of breaching Hill security and raiding the House of Commons, the group is alleged to have turned its focus to attacking targets exclusively located in southern Ontario.

The RCMP contend the suspects sought three tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer - a potential bomb-making agent - in order to fashion powerful explosives.

Though there has been speculation about a wide selection of possible targets, the actual number is believed to be just a handful.

"I was told three," said another insider who has been briefed on the probe.

Gary Batasar, lawyer for 25-year-old restaurant worker Steven Chand, said the group is accused of hatching plans to take MPs hostage and blow up the CBC's Toronto headquarters.

Also, several published reports cite court documents as saying that at least one of the accused, Amin Mohamed Durrani, had enrolled for flying lessons at a Toronto-area college but did not attend any of the classes.

Another media report, citing a Crown synopsis of the case, says the suspects are alleged to have finally settled on an unspecified Canadian Forces base, the downtown Toronto office of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

But details have been scarce.

"We don't discuss our security," said Steve Kee, a spokesman for the Stock Exchange. "I don't care if you think it's very categorical, that's our stance."

One insider said the Americans had been quite worried members of the Canadian group had chosen targets in the United States and might try to slip across the border.

U.S. officials expressed relief and appreciation following the police sweep late last Friday.

"In the administration, people recognize the value of what has been done," said one federal official.

Another source said information provided by the United States played a part in the Canadian arrests.

An FBI affidavit alleges Americans Syed Haris Ahmed and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, both from the Atlanta area, travelled to Toronto in March 2005, meeting with others of interest to U.S. authorities.

The men supposedly discussed "strategic locations in the United States suitable for a terrorist strike, to include oil refineries and military bases."

FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko recently confirmed U.S. links with the Ontario police sweep, noting an "indication that some of the Canadian subjects may have had limited contact with the two people recently arrested from Georgia."

Canadian authorities will be probing the accused for any U.S. ties they may have beyond the two Atlanta men.

Assistant RCMP Commissioner Mike McDonell underscored the search for other international contacts the accused might have.

"We plan to share our investigative leads with our allies, and see where it goes from there," McDonell said in an interview.

The Canadian probe is said to have links to investigations in half a dozen countries. Still, any international dimensions of the Ontario events remain unclear.

McDonell said he had never heard of Operation Mazhar, an apparent British probe said to overlap with the Canadian investigation.

Another potential thread emerged Wednesday with the arrest in England of a 21-year-old man and a 16-year-old youth said by the BBC to be connected to the terrorist plot in Canada.

Gil Hebert, mayor of the northern Ontario town of Matheson, played down a media report the accused Canadian terrorists had set off a test explosion in his small community.

"Here everybody knows everybody, and they would stand out like sore thumbs. So it's completely bogus," Hebert said.

"God, even if there's a grass fire everybody knows about it before the grass fire's out. So it would surprise me very much that there'd be explosions out in the countryside that would go unreported."


TOPICS: Canada; Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 06/08/2006 7:51:53 AM PDT by Clive
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To: Alberta's Child; albertabound; AntiKev; backhoe; Byron_the_Aussie; Cannoneer No. 4; ...

-


2 posted on 06/08/2006 7:52:18 AM PDT by Clive
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To: Clive; GMMAC; Pikamax; Former Proud Canadian; Great Dane; Alberta's Child; headsonpikes; Ryle; ...

Canada ping!

Please FReepmail me to get on or off this ping list.

3 posted on 06/08/2006 8:00:23 AM PDT by fanfan (I wouldn't be so angry with them if they didn't want to kill me!)
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To: Clive

Idiots or not, they were still out to kill many innocent people.


4 posted on 06/08/2006 8:00:32 AM PDT by mtbopfuyn (I think the border is kind of an artificial barrier - San Antonio councilwoman Patti Radle)
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To: Clive
Amin Mohamed Durrani, had enrolled for flying lessons at a Toronto-area college but did not attend any of the classes.

Are they setting false trails? Sign up at venues under scrutiny, but never show up because they are planning something different?

Neither do I buy that they abandoned something because they had no knowledge of the location. It takes a very short time to learn a city's layout, in my experience. Especially with all the Internet maps available. If they were planning something on the capitol buildings, then they were dealing with a small segment of the city. How long would it take to set up and become familiar with escape routes from a city center?

IMO, this is all spin designed to get them off lightly and to undermine the victory for the intel security forces. I read similar attempts going on in the UK, along with the usual threats in both places that the Muslims will react badly to any of their people being arrested, charged or tried. After all, responding to any sort of attempt to harm anyone not Muslim is oppressive agression, isn't it? Will jury intimidation be next? Or will these be some sort of judicial trial?

What is the legal format in the UK and Canada? Jury trial or panel of judges?
5 posted on 06/08/2006 8:38:39 AM PDT by reformedliberal
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To: mtbopfuyn

seems this is a MSM spin of "its ok, they were only going to attack americans..."


6 posted on 06/08/2006 8:50:53 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: reformedliberal
Agree with all you've said.

As for "Jury trial or panel of judges?", it's my understanding that, with serious criminal charges, any accused has the option to elect trial by jury or by a single Judge.
In Canada, only Appellate level & Higher Courts are presided over by multiple Judges.

The more pressing question is whether the 5 so-called 'young offenders' will be - as most certainly is permitted under Canadian law for major and/or violent crimes - Tried as adults along with their co-conspirators.
Watch for every bleeding heart & Islamofascist apologist in the country (not unlike Stateside) to be howling for such 'troubled youths' to be treated with the utmost compassion - sheesh !!!
7 posted on 06/08/2006 9:02:46 AM PDT by GMMAC (Discover Canada governed by Conservatives: www.CanadianAlly.com)
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To: reformedliberal
"IMO, this is all spin designed to get them off lightly and to undermine the victory for the intel security forces."

I agree. Canadian liberals very much want to believe that terrorists are motivated by entirely legitimate grievances, so any Islamist plot against liberal, anti-Bush Canada must be minimized as much as possible. Terrorists are not SUPPOSED to have any serious qualms with Canada.
8 posted on 06/08/2006 9:31:20 AM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: Steve_Seattle

But we're a Conservative government now.


9 posted on 06/08/2006 10:31:40 AM PDT by Catholic Canadian (Formerly Ashamed Canadian - thank you Stephen Harper!)
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To: fanfan

With the amount of fertilizer they were collecting they did not have to do much planning to cause an awful lot of damage.


10 posted on 06/08/2006 2:42:56 PM PDT by Fair Go
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