http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/National/2006/06/05/1614690-sun.html
Inside the terror dragnet How investigators unravelled a plan to bring terror attacks to southern Ontario. By ANGELA PACIENZA, CP TORONTO -- What erupted in dramatic fashion Friday had its seemingly innocent beginnings two years ago on the Internet. Canadian teens who were spending their time on websites promoting anti-Western sentiment were being watched in cyberspace by Canadian investigators, who bided their time as they waited for words to turn into action. Those investigators soon unravelled a sinister plan to detonate three tonnes of explosive material on unsuspecting civilians in and around Canada's most populous city -- a probe that culminated Friday in 17 arrests. It was in 2004 that tech-savvy spies noticed some teens spending more and more time reading and posting to extremist websites, sources told the Toronto Star. The sleuthing sparked a probe by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which eventually uncovered an attack plan by a group of extremists. Canada's top investigators came together through the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, or INSET, made up of RCMP, CSIS, federal agencies and provincial and municipal police. The cloak-and-dagger group has more than 400 highly skilled sleuths. The team spent thousands of hours investigating, officials said in announcing the raids. The arrests came after three tonnes of ammonium nitrate -- a common fertilizer that's easily transformed into a powerful explosive -- was purchased from undercover officers, the Star reported. Using the cover of a misty Friday night, police tactical teams raided homes in Toronto and Mississauga. Their efforts netted a total of 17 people -- 12 men, including a computer programmer, school bus driver and university health sciences graduate, and five youths who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Nada Farooq, wife of suspect Zakaria Amara, 20, described how police crashed into the multi-generational family's home as the couple played with their eight-month-old baby. Family members were moved to the garage, she said, and her husband was taken away. "They're not guilty," she told CTV News. "They're still innocent until proven guilty and yet they're taking measures as though they're monsters." A federal official said he expects serious reflection in government and security circles about how young people raised in Canada could become terror suspects. "Most of them went through the school system here. They're not just off the plane. So there will be some questioning," the official said. "The big issue is going to be societal, that's clear." What specific places were targeted remains a mystery, though media reports pointed to a CSIS building in downtown Toronto and the Parliament buildings in Ottawa. But a source in Ottawa, who asked not to be named, squelched talk yesterday that Parliament was a target, insisting the alleged plotters had their sights set on southern Ontario. Two of the men were in prison in Kingston after they were caught trying to smuggle weapons into Canada from the U.S. One of the 17 men, Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, was known in the community for his extremist views, a source said. Jamal became imam of a small mosque after "a tussle" with more moderate members, the source said. "The fundamentalists threw out the moderates and took it over," said the source, adding that an MP became involved and complained about his "extremist" sermons. It's unclear how two Americans -- Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, 19, and Syed Haris Ahmed, 21, both from the Atlanta area -- are linked to the Toronto group. The pair, now in custody, visited some of the 17 terror suspects, the FBI said. Court documents allege Sadequee and Ahmed took a bus to Toronto in March 2005 to meet other "like-minded Islamic extremists" to discuss terrorist training and bomb plots against military bases and oil refineries. The 17 accused are to return to court tomorrow. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Protect your PC from spy ware with award winning anti spy technology. It's free. http://us.click.yahoo.com/97bhrC/LGxNAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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