http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060605/1068012.asp Peace Bridge arrests tied to terror plot
_____ FT. ERIE LISTED AS TRAINING SITE By MAKI BECKER News Staff Reporter 6/5/2006 <http://www.buffalonews.com/images/space.gif> <http://www.buffalonews.com/images/space.gif> <javascript:showPicture('http://www.buffalonews.com/graphics/2006/06/05/actu alsize/0605terist.jpg')> Click to view larger picture <http://www.buffalonews.com/graphics/2006/06/05/0605terist.jpg> Associated Press A suspect arrested in a sweep aimed at foiling a possible terrorist attack in Canada is transferred to a prison vehicle in Pickering, Ont., for his arraignment Saturday in Brampton. <http://www.buffalonews.com/graphics/2006/06/05/0605ali.jpg> Mohammed Dirie already is serving a two- year term in a gun smuggling case. But local officials report no sign of threat here Three of the 17 suspected terrorists rounded up in Toronto and its suburbs Friday were involved in a foiled plot to smuggle guns and ammunition from the United States into Canada via the Peace Bridge crossing last summer. Mohammed Dirie, also known as Ali Dirie, 22, and Yasin Abdi Mohamed, 24, both Somali immigrants to Canada, already were in jail serving two-year sentences for weapons smuggling when they were hit last week with new Canadian terrorism charges. Authorities allege that the 17 suspects - 12 adults and five minors - had acquired three tons of explosives and were planning to blow up targets in the Toronto area, including, according to the Toronto Star, the Canadian Security Intelligence Services, located next to the city's famed CN Tower. The Canadian Press, in a story appearing Sunday night on the Web site of the Toronto Globe and Mail, said the charges against the 17 suspects include assertions that Fort Erie, Ont., was among several Canadian locations where the suspects may have either received or provided terrorist training. The other sites are Toronto, Mississauga and Ramara township, located on the shores of Lake Simcoe. There's no indication so far that the suspected Canadian terror cell planned any attacks in this region - or anywhere else in the United States, Western New York officials say. "There are no ties to Western New York that we are aware of," said U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn. "There are no threats to targets in Western New York that we've been apprised of at this time. We're watching the situation 24/7. We're monitoring it very closely." Deputy County Executive Bruce Fisher, homeland security coordinator for Erie County, said his office has been in constant contact with local, federal and Canadian law enforcement since Friday - the day of the sweep. "We've been conferring and communicating over the weekend," Fisher said. He refused to give details of any on-going surveillance or investigations on the U.S. side of the border in connection with the Canadian cell. "I wish I could tell you more," Fisher said. Dirie and Mohamed were arrested at 5:40 a.m. Aug. 13 after crossing the Peace Bridge into Fort Erie. The two were in a white Buick that had been rented by a third terror suspect, Fahim Ahmad, 21, of Toronto, according to the Star. At the time the car was rented, Ahmad, believed to be from Afghanistan, already was under surveillance by Canadian authorities, the Star reported, based on sources and court records. Officials flagged the rental vehicle's license plate for possible "narcotic involvement," and authorities waited for it to return to Canada, the Star reported. A Canadian Border Services student intern stopped the rented Buick, questioned Dirie and Mohamed, and a superintendent was called over. The two were ordered out of the car and appeared nervous. Mohammed allegedly fidgeted with his hands in his pocket and was unable to keep still. Border agents searched the men and found that Mohamed had a semiautomatic handgun taped under his clothes. Dirie had two handguns, each taped to his inner thighs. The officers also found about 200 rounds of ammunition in bags. The arrests made headlines on both sides of the border as an example of the problem of increasing gun violence in Canada. Both men pleaded guilty in the fall and were serving their time in a Kingston-area jail when they were arrested again Friday. "There's only one thing that you can use weapons of that nature for," said St. Catharines, Ont., Crown Attorney Ron Brooks during the trial, according to the Star. "And it's either to kill somebody or to give them to somebody else to kill somebody." Aly Hindy, an imam who said he knows nine of the suspects, including Ahmad, said Ahmad admitted to him that he sent Dirie and Mohammed to the United States to get guns but that he intended to sell them on the black market in the Toronto area. Ahmad never was charged in connection with the gun smuggling operation but was taken into custody Friday as part of the terror sweep. Western New York politicians say the alleged Toronto cell and the investigation into the Lackawanna Six cell that was broken up in 2002 are both proof that the recent funding cuts by Homeland Security are misguided. "We are on an international border," Mayor Byron W. Brown said. "People from Toronto and people that pass through Toronto are in Buffalo every day, every week. And if something like that could happen just 90 miles away in Toronto, there's no question that it could happen here." Staff reporters Dan Herbeck, Anthony Cardinale and Vanessa Thomas contributed to this report. [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? 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