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HE was told not to grow a beard, wear Islamic clothing or show any sign of religious devotion. During his recruitment as a soldier in the global jihad, Assem Hammoud was told to act like a typical young, secular Lebanese man and warned not to attract attention, a senior Lebanese security official said. Hammoud was an ideal recruit because he did not have any apparent ties to militants. "He had no criminal history, and no history of involvement with militant groups," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "He was living a normal life, far from any...

A suspect was questioned in Canada in connection with an alleged plot to bomb tunnels between Manhattan and New Jersey and flood New York's financial district, CBC News has learned. An FBI official in Washington told CBC News that one suspect in the plot was questioned in Canada. But the Canadian Press reported that the suspect was released because there wasn't enough evidence to hold him beyond the period of interrogation. Another suspect, a 31-year-old Lebanese man who was arrested in Lebanon, may have spent time in Canada. Lebanese police confirmed Friday that Assem Hammoud confessed to being the mastermind...

A Canadian man accused of plotting a terrorist attack on New York is being held in custody overseas, an FBI source knowledgeable about the investigation said Friday. This suspect is one of eight people — three of them in custody — who, investigators say, were planning to bomb heavily used commuter tunnels leading to Manhattan with the aim of flooding the financial district at the south end of the island. A version of the alleged plot was revealed Friday morning in a New York daily newspaper, prompting the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security to hold...

MISSISSAUGA — More than anything, Zakaria Amara wanted to serve God. But it was never easy, especially not while living in Canada. During the summer of 2004, the then-18-year-old felt disgusted by women who were immodestly dressed. For the same reason, he couldn't watch television. He and his wife Nada Farooq stopped going to movies. One of his devout friends in England sent him a desperate e-mail asking for help in beating an addiction to pornography. But the forces tugging at Mr. Amara -- who now stands accused of being one of two leaders in a terrorist plot -- in...

All 17 people arrested lived in Canada; all but two were under age 26. TORONTO - Canadians are struggling to understand the threat of "home-grown" terrorism after the arrest of 17 Toronto-area young men in connection with what investigators said were plans to commit massive terrorist attacks in Canada. The suspects all lived in Canada at the time of arrest; many are longtime residents and citizens. Like the perpetrators of last summer's London bombings, these young Muslims apparently became radicalized not in Al Qaeda training camps abroad but in suburban neighborhoods where they led relatively unremarkable lives. Such home-grown terrorism...

PM vows to keep up the fightOttawa Sun By Kathleen Harris June 4, 2006 PRIME MINISTER Stephen Harper vowed to ramp up Canada's fight against terrorism at home and abroad in the wake of the stunning Toronto sweep of homegrown terrorist suspects. Speaking to 240 fresh-faced military recruits during a swearing-in ceremony in Ottawa yesterday, Harper praised the RCMP, CSIS and Toronto-area police authorities for busting the al-Qaida-inspired cell and pledged more tools to fight terror in the future. "We will continue to support them by strengthening our laws, our policies and the resources dedicated to the fight against terrorism...

RSN: Canada Arrests 17 in Terror Sweep, The 17 may have had contacts in the US.--A very good story about this is here: http://tinyurl.com/oeyng There is MUCH more information in this story by reporter MICHELLE SHEPHARD by 1AM this morning. It seems she had foreknowledge of this bust and kept her mouth shut.       http://www.instapundit.com/ A TERROR RING THAT PLANNED OKLAHOMA-CITY-STYLE BOMBINGS has reportedly been smashed in Canada. Interestingly, it seems that Internet monitoring played a key role. UPDATE: Brendan Loy has more, plus a complaint about Reuters' coverage, which leaves out a lot of details about the...

Canadian authorities yesterday declared they had foiled a chilling bomb plot aimed at several targets in their country - busting an al Qaeda-inspired cell with likely connections to a pair of Atlanta-area men indicted on terror charges. The 17 suspects - including five youths 18 or under - were busted Friday night and yesterday morning at locations in and around Toronto, following a delivery of three tons of ammonium nitrate and other explosive components. The tonnage was three times the amount used in the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. New York City police said they were...

<p>So, is there is a real wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time?</p> <p>Given our messy borders and chaotic response to disasters, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff seems fair game.</p> <p>During the Clinton era he definitely was the right person in the right place at the right time. Either that or really, really lucky. You see, Chertoff, a Bush 41 appointee, holds the distinction of being the only U.S. attorney not fired when Clinton took office.</p>

Toronto, Canada (RSN)- Canadian Police foiled a terrorist attack on Canadian Soil, say the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper released a statement saying "These individuals were allegedly intent on committing acts of terrorism against their own country and their own people," Soon after the announcement, The American FBI said the arrest seventeen may have had contact with two men recently arrested in Atlanta, GA on terrorism charges. RCMP Commissioner Mike McDonnel said that the arrested had the capacity and the intent to attack Canadian Targets. [snip] Syed Haris Ahmed and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, the terrorists from...

Links to global terror surface in Canada Lorraine Passchier, CTVNEWS.com The ranks of al-Qaeda's mujahideen seem far away from the urban streets of Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver. But a dragnet unleashed in the days following the attacks on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon is uncovering remnants of al-Qaeda's holy war here at home. A number of high-profile cases have been in the news in recent weeks as investigators zero in on their targets and court proceedings begin to unfold. Some of the suspects have been charged with immigration offences and face allegations that they pose a...

welve men have been arrested in Toronto on terror charges, Canadian police have confirmed. They are also holding five youths. Police said the men were planning to commit a series of "al-Qaeda-inspired" terrorist attacks in southern Ontario. They had obtained materials used in bomb-making, including three tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Officials said the group "posed a real and serious threat. It had the capacity and intent to carry out these attacks." Ammonium nitrate is a commonly-used fertiliser. "To put it in context, the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people was completed with...

A group of Canadian residents arrested in coordinated raids across the Toronto area for “terrorism-related offenses” had planned to blow up targets around southern Ontario, Canadian police said on Saturday. Mike McDonnell, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said the group had acquired three metric tons of ammonium nitrate — or three times the amount used in the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City — as they sought to “create explosive devices.” Police said they had arrested 12 adults and five young people. .......... “The men arrested yesterday are Canadian residents from a variety of backgrounds. For various reasons...

TORONTO - Police tactical teams raided several locations in Greater Toronto yesterday as part of what is being described as Canada's largest terrorism investigation since the Air-India bombings. The RCMP has scheduled a news conference for this morning to announce it has made at least twelve arrests under the Anti-terrorism Act, and was still seeking one suspect. Hundreds of officers were involved. The arrests went without incident. Police would provide no details last night, but a senior intelligence official disclosed this week that "homegrown" terrorists were looking at targets in Canada. Arrests in Canada have been widely anticipated since the...

How Internet monitoring sparked a CSIS investigation into a suspected homegrown terror cell Toronto red Star Jun. 3, 2006. 01:00 AM MICHELLE SHEPHARD STAFF REPORTER Last night's dramatic police raid and arrest of as many as a dozen men — with more to come — marks the culmination of Canada's largest ever terrorism investigation into an alleged homegrown cell. The chain of events began two years ago, sparked by local teenagers roving through Internet sites, reading and espousing anti-Western sentiments and vowing to attack at home, in the name of oppressed Muslims here and abroad. Their words were sometimes...

A group of Canadian teenagers and young men in their 20s, accused by police of being members of a suspected homegrown terrorist cell, will appear in court this morning to face accusations that they plotted to attack Canadian targets, the Toronto Star has learned. Some members of the group allegedly attended a "training camp" north of the city where they made a video imitating military warfare, and the suspects allegedly had acquired weapons and listed targets in Ontario, sources told the Star. Led by the RCMP's anti-terrorism task force, more than 400 police officers from across Ontario made the series...

Police across the Greater Toronto Area launched counterterrorism raids yesterday, arresting at least eight people in a roundup expected to continue overnight and beyond. “We anticipate more arrests, but not necessarily tonight,” an RCMP source said of the arrests, in what appeared to be the most concerted such sweep in Canada since the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service aided the RCMP and officers from Toronto, Peel and Durham in detaining the suspects, described by an undercover officer involved in the operation as “terrorists, the ones who hate the West.” The...

Canadian Authorities Arrest 10 Suspects on Terror Charges Saturday , June 03, 2006 TORONTO — At least 10 suspects were arrested in the Toronto area on terrorism-related charges, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. The Canadian Press quoted an unnamed police source as saying the charges were related to an explosives plot in Ontario, Canada's largest province. The arrests were made throughout Friday and more were expected overnight, with some 400 officers involved, in cooperation with the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, said RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Michele Paradis. The national police force said it would reveal more details at a...

Major terror bust in TorontoAt least 8 in 'terror' cell arrested as police foil possible attack on TTC Toronto Sun June 3, 2006 By VIVIAN SONG AND BRETT CLARKSON, TORONTO SUN TORONTO - In a stunning development yesterday, police made a sweeping terrorist bust within the GTA and expected to make several more arrests throughout the night. "The RCMP, CSIS and the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team arrested individuals throughout the GTA today in relation to terrorist-related offences," confirmed RCMP spokesman Corp. Michele Paradis. As of about 9 p.m. last night, Paradis also added "there are ongoing arrests." Though...

Bust nets suspected terrorists across GTA Toronto red Star Jun. 2, 2006. 11:56 PM MICHELLE SHEPHARD AND STAN JOSEY STAFF REPORTERS Police from across the GTA, led by the RCMP's anti-terrorism task force, swooped down on as many as 12 locations Friday night to arrest members of what is being described as a homegrown terrorist cell. Police remained tight-lipped about the massive operation, but have scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. Saturday. RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR This officer is one of numerous heavily-armed police standing guard in front of the Durham Regional Police station at Kingston and Brock roads...