Case of 19 terrorists unravelling [Canada]

Toronto and Islamabad — Anwar-ur-Rehman Mohammed is a pharmacist who left his wife and children behind in southern India to live in a tiny, cluttered basement apartment in Markham in the hopes of obtaining a prestigious commercial pilot's licence.

Instead, he wasted $50,000, did not graduate and despairs of getting a licence after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Saif Ulla Khan is a 42-year-old refugee claimant from Faisalabad, Pakistan, who was picked up by police because he shared an apartment with his brother, a suspect in an immigration raid. He was found hiding in a pile of laundry, and complained that authorities had mistaken him for his brother.

Muhammed Naeem, 34, is a physician from Islamabad who hoped to practise medicine in Canada. His decision to register for computer courses at the Ottawa Business School, a defunct institution that sold phony registration letters, drew the suspicion of authorities investigating the school.

These men and 16 others are at the centre of Canada's most sensational — and most controversial — terrorism case in recent years.

After they were jailed on the grounds that they could pose a risk to Canada's national security, the case made headlines around the world as the news media quoted a government official's now infamous words: "I guess the easiest way of putting it is there is a suggestion they might, in fact, perhaps be a sleeper cell for Al-Qaeda."

Other Immigration officials raised allegations that some of the men may have been in search of diagrams and schematics of the CN Tower and other prominent Toronto landmarks.

However, the case of the terrorists among us began to unravel almost as soon as the detention reviews began, with the RCMP and Citizenship and Immigration Canada distancing themselves from the idea that the men posed a clear threat to security.

The RCMP, which is just beginning to sift through 25 boxes of files and 30 computers seized in the raid that netted the 19 men, said this week there is no evidence that Canada's national security is at risk. Immigration officials underlined that they are investigating only the possibility of such threats.

"I can comfortably say there is no known threat; what is being investigated is a reasonable suspicion," said Giovanna Gatti, spokesperson with Citizenship and Immigration Canada. "It's taken the spin that it has taken in the media for whatever reason."

Privately, other government sources say that public fears are overblown — and that at its root, the case remains an investigation into an illegal-immigrant ring.

Two of the men were released after Immigration adjudicators found that they posed no threat to security.

At least 10 of the 17 men who remain in jail in the Maplehurst Correctional Centre in Milton, Ont., were moved into protective custody after complaining of threats from inmates.

The Pakistani high commission in Ottawa has expressed concern for the well-being of the men and requested their release. "Correctional services sent us a letter saying that the reason for the incarceration of the 19 men is Immigration. The terrorism word was not used. It is nothing to do with terrorism," a spokesman for the high commission said.

The Muslim Canadian Congress denounced the case as racial profiling and demanded an apology and the immediate release of the men. "The authorities have created hysteria and created a national security scare," Tarek Fatah said. "We are deeply troubled."

As Immigration adjudicators assess the allegations, a central issue is how far authorities should go to protect the public from terrorism in a world irrevocably changed by the events of Sept. 11, 2001, without violating individual rights.

"There exists, unfortunately, stereotyping. . . . We live, unfortunately, in very uneasy times, and it's only heightened by the tragic event of Sept. 11, 2001," said Silvana Gratton, an Immigration adjudicator who presided over one detention review. "Suspicions are real. . . It was only heightened by the bomb at the United Nations in Baghdad."

Under Canada's post-Sept. 11 Immigration Act, foreigners can be jailed if there is a reasonable suspicion they may be inadmissible to the country on grounds of national security. There need be no evidence or proof.

Jahan Zaib Sawhney was ordered jailed, for example, because the Immigration adjudicator found it suspicious that he was only a part-time student at the University of Windsor. Mr. Sawhney's explanation that his low grade-point average precluded him from taking more courses failed to persuade the adjudicator to release him.

Detention reviews are not like criminal trials. They are held in conference rooms, not in courts of law. Suspects appear in person with police escorts or by videolinks from jail. Immigration adjudicators presiding over the hearings and officials arguing the government's case do not have to be lawyers.

But the men cannot be held indefinitely, and some of the adjudicators hearing the 19 cases want more evidence presented during the next round of hearings in 30 days.

The men came to the attention of authorities because they used the Ottawa Business School to obtain student visas to enter Canada. "Project Thread" was launched after a sharp-eyed Immigration officer determined that the school is bogus.

In February, the RCMP seized 400 student files from the school that was based in Scarborough, Ont. Immigration agents said school officials later admitted to selling phony registration letters for $400 and to handing out receipts for thousands of dollars more.

It took until this month for police to co-ordinate 13 predawn raids at various locations around the Toronto area. Police initially identified 31 suspects but arrested only 13 of their targets — and six bystanders dubbed "found-ins" — during the Aug. 14 raids.

They are searching for more men. A suspect reportedly was arrested yesterday in a grocery store where he works.

And friends said another man, Mukhtar Awan, 25, surfaced yesterday and wanted to turn himself in but could not reach Immigration's enforcement unit. Arif Raza, a lawyer, said Mr. Awan was "terrified" by news that authorities were looking for him but wanted to clear his name.

In addition to their connection to the business school, some men had applied for refugee status, in some cases using false identities. Others are said to have misrepresented themselves to obtain work permits. One man smuggled his way into Canada in the back of a truck.

What is not clear is what prompted officials to suggest these men "might in fact perhaps" be al-Qaeda cell members.

Project Thread's four-page backgrounder, submitted by the government in the detention hearings, outlines certain collective characteristics that bear a striking similarity to the Sept. 11 hijackers.

It is said the men lived in clusters in sparsely furnished apartments in Toronto, Mississauga and Scarborough, moved frequently and had several unexplained fires in their homes. One man took flying lessons while others had associates who were found walking around the Pickering nuclear power station. Some allegedly knew a man who had links to Global Relief Foundation, identified by the United Nations as a fundraising group for al-Qaeda.

During this week's detention hearings, unlike at others, the government did not utter the words that had so worried the public: "CN Tower" and "al-Qaeda." And Mr. Mohammed's flight path over a nuclear-power plant turned out to be routine for flight-school students.

Immigration adjudicators released two of the men, noting the case appeared to be one of misrepresentation, day-to-day immigration business that had been manipulated into a national-security issue.

In Pakistan, visa scams are common as thousands of aspiring ýmigrýs eager to study overseas or escape economic stagnation turn to "consultants" to help them obtain visas to enter Canada.

Tucked away in shabby concrete shopping areas in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, and in nearby Rawalpindi's store warrens offering a range of items from laser hair-removal to naan bread, hundreds of small offices offer visa services. Signs reading "Immigration Canada" and "Study UK" hang on peeling walls above the streets.

Obtaining visas has become doubly difficult since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and has spawned a plethora of "visa consultants," small businesses that promise to assist by processing paperwork and identifying potential employers or colleges.

At the Canadian high commission in Islamabad, the overseas-study promotion service receives about 60 queries per week, a commission official said. Some consultants offer legitimate services, while others deal in fake paperwork or phony organizations.

"Canadian Immigration" is emblazoned across the door of Transworld Consultants, down a narrow staircase in one of Islamabad's many featureless shopping centres. The owner, Muhammad Azim, used to work on Canadian visas only, but since Sept. 11 Canadian rules have become so strict that he expanded his network to other countries.

"Canada has introduced such tough criteria for scoring points [to qualify as immigrants] that even highly qualified people don't get past," said Mr. Azim, who added that the majority of his clients apply for student visas.

At World Consultants, Kiren Javed said that most of her clients are desperate to leave Pakistan, where economic opportunities are few.

"Right up front they tell me it's not the studies they're going for, it's the work," she said. "We say it's not possible to get the immigration visa, so we suggest they go for the alternative, which is studying."

Once in Canada, the advantage of a Canadian student visa comes to the fore: It is easy to stay, said Ms. Javed, who guides applicants from preparing an immigration interview to tailoring appearances in a world where prejudice has grown against orthodox Muslims.

Canada's Immigration Department is aware of the chronic problem of misrepresentation in Pakistan. "Fraud continues to be pervasive, as evidenced by the routine submission of counterfeit and altered education certificates . . . as well as fraudulent and fictitious letters of invitation in support of visitor visa applications," Canadian officials in Islamabad wrote in a recent report.

Officials vowed increased vigilance in a document, the 2001-2002 Islamabad Environmental Overview, released recently under the federal Access to Information Act to Richard Kurland, a Vancouver-based lawyer.

As for the 19 men detained earlier this month, some of them say they want to go back to Pakistan. Saif Ulla Khan — the suspect found in the laundry pile — was released on a $4,000 bond yesterday, and he and his brother Aqeel Ahmed, still in jail, want to return home.

The brothers are from a well-off family in Faisalabad, a city of six million close to Lahore, and are not religious. "Aqeel is a very nice guy, very helpful and friendly. He knows nothing about al-Qaeda," said Faisal Zafar, who employed him and his brother as pizza delivery drivers at a Pizza Hut in Mississauga.

"Aqeel wants to leave Canada now, he even had a flight booked," said Mr. Zafar. "Those two guys just wanted to make a life in Canada. They are not terrorists."

Saturday » August 30 » 2003

20th suspect arrested in probe of terrorist cell
Officials will not say if they have caught ringleader

Stewart Bell
National Post

Saturday, August 30, 2003

A 20th person has been taken into custody in connection with an investigation into a possible al-Qaeda sleeper cell in the Toronto area, Canadian officials said yesterday.

The RCMP said the probe, named Project Thread, resulted in another arrest, but no details were released. "I can confirm that, yes, there has been a 20th arrest," Sergeant Paul Marsh said.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada also confirmed the arrest but declined to elaborate. "That's all I can confirm right now," said Giovanna Gatti, a department spokeswoman.

Project Thread, a joint probe by an RCMP-Immigration national security task force, is investigating what one federal official termed "perhaps a sleeper cell for al-Qaeda."

The National Post reported yesterday that the "recruiter" at the centre of the network of Pakistanis was still on the loose, but there was no indication if he was the latest to be apprehended.

Eleven of the 31 men identified as members of the network have still not been caught. The arrest came as Muslim organizations were demanding the release of those already in custody.

Immigration officials claim the men, who were living in Canada on fraudulent student visas obtained from a bogus school called the Ottawa Business College, may be threats to security.

An immigration intelligence report says some members of the network were caught at 4:15 a.m. at the Pickering nuclear power plant, while another member would fly over the reactor while attending flight school.

Another was linked to the Global Relief Foundation, a fundraising front for al-Qaeda. There were also unexplained fires at several apartments, which authorities said may have occurred when they were testing explosives.

Schematics suggesting the men were studying the CN Tower, law courts and buildings in the United States were seized. One of the targeted apartments was linked to the theft of radioactive material.

Officials have also tied a member of the group to the seizure in December, 2001, of membership cards for Tehrik-e Jafria, a Shiite Islamic party outlawed by Pakistan for advocating holy war.

The arrest came as one of those taken into custody during the initial Aug. 14 raids was released on bail and a second man was awaiting release after an Immigration and Refugee Board member ruled the case against him was flimsy.

"He's home and having a hot meal as we speak," immigration lawyer Mohammed Syed said of his client, Saif Ulla Khan, a failed refugee claimant who was arrested along with his brother two weeks ago.

Refugee lawyers and Muslim groups call the allegations too vague and accuse the government of unfairly targeting the men because they are Muslims.

"We want this matter to go to Federal Court and we want to sort it out," said Tariq Shah, who represents several of the detained men.

sbell@nationalpost.com

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October 9, 2002, 10:30 a.m.
Visas that Should Have Been Denied
A look at 9/11 terrorists’ visa applications.

he cover story in National Review's October 28th issue (out Friday) details how at least 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers should have been denied visas — an assessment based on expert analyses of 15 of the terrorists' visa-application forms, obtained exclusively by NR.

In the year after 9/11, the hand-wringing mostly centered on the FBI and CIA's failure to "connect the dots." But that would not have been a fatal blow if the "dots" had not been here in the first place. If the U.S. State Department had followed the law, at least 15 of the 19 "dots" should have been denied visas — and they likely wouldn't have been in the United States on September 11, 2001.

According to expert analyses of the visa-application forms of 15 of the 9/11 terrorists (the other four applications could not be obtained), all the applicants among the 15 reviewed should have been denied visas under then-existing law. Six separate experts who analyzed the simple, two-page forms came to the same conclusion: All of the visa applications they reviewed should have been denied on their face.

9/11 Terrorist Visa Applications

Hani Hanjour, 1997 (~167k file)
Hani Hanjour, 2000 (a) (~205k file)
Hani Hanjour, 2000 (b) (~169k file)
Waleed al-Sherhi, 2000 (~169k file)
Wail al-Sherhi, 2000 (~206k file)
Abdulaziz Alomari, 2001 (~259k file)

Even to the untrained eye, it is easy to see why many of the visas should have been denied. Consider, for example, the U.S. destinations most of them listed. Only one of the 15 provided an actual address — and that was only because his first application was refused — and the rest listed only general locations — including "California," "New York," "Hotel D.C.," and "Hotel." One terrorist amazingly listed his U.S. destination as simply "No." Even more amazingly, he got a visa.

The experts — who scrutinized the applications of 14 Saudis and one from the United Arab Emirates — include four former consular officers, a current consular officer stationed in Latin America, and a senior official at Consular Affairs (CA) — the division within the State Department that oversees consulates and visa issuance — who has extensive consular experience.

All six experts strongly agreed that even allowing for human error, no more than a handful of the visa applications should have managed to slip through the cracks. Making the visa lapses even more inexplicable, the State Department claims that at least 11 of the 15 were interviewed by consular officers. Nikolai Wenzel, one of the former consular officers who analyzed the forms, declares that State's issuance of the visas "amounts to criminal negligence."

The visas should have been denied because of a provision in the law known as 214(b), which states that almost all nonimmigrant visa (NIV) applicants are presumed to be intending immigrants. The law is clear: "Every alien [other than several narrowly exempted subcategories] shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officer, at the time of application for a visa, that he is entitled to a nonimmigrant [visa]." State's Deputy Press Secretary Phil Reeker recently remarked that 214(b) is "quite a threshold to overcome." It just wasn't for Saudi applicants.

Defying the conventional wisdom that al Qaeda had provided its operatives with extensive training to game the system with the right answers to guarantee a visa, the applications were littered with red flags, almost all of which were ignored. The forms were also plagued with significant amounts of missing information — something that should have been sufficient grounds to deny many of the visas. For example, while all but one terrorist claimed to be employed or in school, only on three forms is the area marked "Name and Street Address of Present Employer or School" even filled out. At the very least, the CA executive points out, "The consular officers should not have ended the interview until the forms were completed."

Any discrepancies or apparent problems that would have been resolved by way of explanation or additional documentation should have been noted in the area reserved for a consular officer's comments — yet this was only done on one of the forms. Which begs the question: Were 11 of the 15 terrorists whose applications were reviewed actually interviewed as State claims?

Though all of the 15 applications obtained by NR should have been denied, some were worse than others. Here are some of the worst:

Wail and Waleed al-Shehri
Brothers Wail and Waleed al-Shehri applied together for travel visas on October 24, 2000. Wail claimed his occupation was "teater," while his brother wrote "student." Both listed the name and address of his respective employer or school as simply "South City." Each also declared a U.S. destination of "Wasantwn." But what should have further raised a consular officer's eyebrows is the fact that a student and his nominally employed brother were going to go on a four-to-six-month vacation, paid for by Wail's "teater" salary, which he presumably would be foregoing while in the United States. Even assuming very frugal accommodations, such a trip for two people would run north of $15,000, yet there is no indication that the consular officer even attempted to determine that Wail in fact had the financial means to fund the planned excursion. They appear to have received their visas the same day they applied.

Abdulaziz Alomari
On June 18, 2001, Abdulaziz Alomari filled out a simple, two-page application for a visa to come to the United States. Alomari was not exactly the ideal candidate for a visa. He claimed to be a student, though he left blank the space for the name and address of his school. He checked the box claiming he was married, yet he left blank the area where he should have put the name of his spouse. Although he claimed to be a student, he marked on his form that he would self-finance a two-month stay at the "JKK Whyndham Hotel" — and provided no proof, as required under law, that he could actually do so.

Despite the legal requirement that a visa applicant show strong roots in his home country (to give him or her a reason to come back from America), Alomari listed his home address as the "ALQUDOS HTL JED" (a hotel in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia). Alomari didn't even bother filling in the fields asking for his nationality and gender, apparently realizing that he didn't need to list much more than his name to get a visa to the United States. As it turns out, he didn't. He got his visa.

When he arrived in the United States, he connected with his friend, Mohammed Atta. And less than three months later — on September 11 — he and Atta helped crash American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Hani Hanjour
The most troubling of the applications reviewed is Hanjour's. It appears that Hanjour was the only applicant of the 15 who was initially refused — although this is not entirely clear, because the consular officers did not always circle "Issued" or "Refused" (as required by law) on the other forms. Hanjour had received a student visa in 1997 in order to study English at the ELS Language Center in Melbourne, Fla. On his first of two attempts to obtain a second visa in 2000, Hanjour requested a travel visa for the purpose of a "visit" — for "three years." An unidentified consulate employee, likely a Foreign Service national (a Saudi resident), highlighted the obvious problem with an applicant stating a desire to overstay his visa (the maximum length for a travel visa is 24 months) with an extra-long "visit." The unknown employee wrote in the comment box: "like to stay three years or more!" and circled the remark. That employee or a different one also scribbled something underneath about Hanjour's wish to find a flight school during the trip. This application was refused — but only temporarily.

On the subsequent application filed two weeks later, Hanjour was armed with all the right answers. Rather than stating "AZ, Rent home" as his U.S. location, he gave a specific address, complete with a house number and street name — the only one of the 15 applicants to have done so. On the second go-round, Hanjour applied for a twelve-month student visa, and changed the purpose of the visit to "study" and the desired length of stay to a more appropriate "one year." But so many changes, all of which smoothed out rough spots on the original application, should have troubled the consular officer. "It's never a good sign if someone cleans up his paperwork too well," comments the current consular officer stationed in Latin America.

As disturbing as the visa forms are, perhaps more disturbing is that State's handpicked candidate to be the new chief enforcer of visa policies, Maura Harty, had not even looked at them as of her Senate confirmation hearing last week — yet the Senate is poised to rubber stamp her nomination. That's a real shame, because examining the applications yields many valuable lessons. The most important is that we're not going to keep out terrorists until State figures out that it needs to enforce the law.

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