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Tuesday, 18
December, 2001, 13:09 GMT
FBI bids to boost Canadian
presence
The FBI has deployed 4,000 agents since the
attacks
By the
BBC's Lee Carter
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is asking Congress for more money to increase its presence in Canada. The FBI wants its special agents to work with Canadian law enforcement agencies to prevent future terrorist attacks and deter cross border crime, as part of a series of unprecedented cross border security agreements between the two countries. Before the attacks on the US in September, such proposals would have been met with outcry by the many Canadians who would regard such a move as an affront to their sovereignty. But these days, those voices are muted. Staging ground Although there is no evidence that any of the hijackers involved in the attacks came through Canada, there does seem to be a body of evidence leading to an al-Qaeda network operating in at least three Canadian cities.
In recent weeks, the Canadian Government has agreed, at least in principle, to armed US customs and immigration agents on the Canadian side of the border and armed sky marshalls. A whole range of co-operative security agreements have been signed such as sharing fingerprint datbases. Recently, special anti-terrorism agents from the FBI have been working with their Canadian counterparts from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in large cities such as Toronto. The funding would enable the agency to substantially increase this presence - adding to the 4,000 agents it has deployed all over the world since the September attacks. THE END ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bUrHhl.bVKZIr Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================ |
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