Canadian Terror Cell Had Connections in London and Atlanta

June 03, 2006 2:31 PM

Richard Esposito Reports:

Investigators made arrests in London and in Atlanta, and hunted suspects in Bangladesh, before "taking down" in Toronto the largest piece of a loosely linked set of home-grown fundamentalist terrorists, ABC News has learned.

Seventeen suspected terrorists were arrested by police in the Toronto area Friday, and a large cache of weapons and explosive-making chemicals seized, in a year-long investigation that was brought to a close as the "home grown" terrorists were close to striking.

According to Canadian Intelligence sources overseeing the operation and Canadian security officials, the group of young men of mixed ethnicity and were "home-grown terrorists planning to attack targets at home."

The global investigation arose out of 2004 Canadian intelligence and became an active operation last September.

Investigators in England and the United States cooperated closely with Canadian Intelligence and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in following leads and taking down small pieces of the case without risking the larger objective -- getting as many members of these hard-to-find second generation Islamist terrorists, sources say.

According to U.S. and Canadian law enforcement and intelligence sources, the arrests last November in London and the arrests in Atlanta were of other "home grown" terrorists with loose connections to the 17 Canadian men and youths arrested Friday in the greater Toronto area.

In addition, it appears weapons may have been smuggled into Canada from across the U.S. border.

The arrests -- as with the unrelated arrests of bomb suspects in London Friday, and the London bombers of July 2005 -- are the most compelling evidence to date of what some officials are calling "prairie fire or brush fire" terrorism. Such terror plotting involves insolated cells, ideologically inspired by the last generation of terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden but operating on their own, that go operational without any tell-tale links to overseas terror leaders.

Intelligence and law enforcement officials say these second generation terrorists are often born and raised in the countries where they intend to strike. That was true in the Canadian arrests and in the London cases.

These sources say there are no ties to any overseas fundamentalist terror group including Al Qaeda. Rather, these are radicalized youths who are inspired by the last generation of jihadists.

Authorities in Canada discounted early reports of a possible threat to the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa and also labeled erroneous reports that the CN tower -- a Canadian landmark -- was a target. Two men arrested Friday by Toronto police while allegedly conducting a surveillance of a subway platform were not connected to this group.

According to Canadian news accounts, police in the greater Toronto area "swept down on" as many as 12 locations in the terror roundup. The cell was not connected to the group arrested in London earlier today, Canadian officials said. In at least two past British cases a link between London-Canada and the United States has been identified.

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June 3, 2006 in Terror | Permalink | User Comments (9)

User Comments

How come all the articles I have seen about these 'youths" and "residents or citizens" of Canada fail to mention that these are all Muslims that were arrested? "Mixed ethnicity" leads readers to beleive they are all different but they have one common link. Go to Michelle Malkins site and see the names. It is an important fact, the "who" of who, what, when, etc in journalism 101. Sources say there are no ties to terror groups or Al Qaeda....Seems pretty early to make that assumption and I bet further investigation will reveal otherwise.Background, religion and nationality are import facts that are relevant to this story and should not be withheld.

Posted by: Chris | Jun 3, 2006 3:09:06 PM

World Muslims make right wing Christians in the USA look like backsliders….they make moderate modern Christians look like liberals! Is anyone surprised ?

Posted by: carl | Jun 3, 2006 3:11:34 PM

Where is the Muslim world's MLK?

Why do they tolerate constant hatespeak, even from a minority? It riles their youth to destruction instead of progress and peace.

The crazed and crazy leaders need to be silenced. Hatemongering in mosques and schools must be squelched, it is not freedom of speech, it justified violence.

Posted by: Suzie | Jun 3, 2006 7:35:32 PM

Get a life people. We lived for decades with the possibility of global thermonuclear war. A few crackpots shouldn't make us wet our pants.

Posted by: Hubba Bubba | Jun 3, 2006 11:25:20 PM

The German press revealed that the 1988 Berlin disco bombing was perpetrated by the CIA. According to the NY Times, FBI agents provided the explosives and the truck for the 1993 WTC bombing, and their Islamic accomplices, or patsies, actually tried to talk the FBI agents out of going through with the bombing. The 1995 bombing of the federal Murrah building in Oklahomah City was a joint FBI/ATF operation that used Timothy McVeigh as a patsy. The 9/11 attacks were committed by the Bush Administration, the CIA, FBI, FEMA, NORAD, and the Pentagon to create an excuse for the US government's never-ending "War on Terrorism," which is actually an offensive war for world domination by the USA. In the decades to come, the nation that controls the oil reserves of the Middle East will effectively dominate the entire world.

Posted by: Gregory F. Fegel | Jun 4, 2006 2:56:25 AM

The "war on terror", is little more than a nebulous, blanket of authoritianism and an open ended warrant to be used arbitrarily for the pursuit of any threat to the expansion of a universal culture that the various other cultures of the world are, and have been for some time made subject to yeilding to.
Born as a desperate reaction against an enemy with no physical state, no geographical coordinates, no definitive leadership, no uniforms and no long range conclusive objectives it may as well be fought under the banner of "Crush all those who would oppose us.", rather than feigning any implication that there is a genuine strategic defense to be staged against such a phantasmic sort of adversary.
It's a war on anarchy and chaos and a war against the symptoms of two off kiltered, out of balance cultures that have both leaned too far to the right of what can be assimulated into a reality supported by our basic natural laws, whether they be animal, social or human.
History has shown that any attempt by any empire to create a universal, global culture has repeatedly and consistantly met with resistance, opposition and failure. It's the square peg of power and the will of man being jammed into the round hole of natural law and natural balance. There will always be some one or many to oppose it.
Any solution will not come from force or by "pushing on a door that opens in".
It's time for the sake of cooling these 4,000 year embers and healing the planet and our species to find another option besides our inate stubborness and willingness to apply violence as our only conceivable tool.

Posted by: zach | Jun 4, 2006 1:26:54 PM

Islamist first need to face the fact that every "Crusade" has been a reaction to the invasion of Europe by the Moors and their Jihad in 711 A.D.

Yes it's been that long since Islam and Christianity have clashed...please don't make it worse, the road to peace is more difficult than that of war...What these extremist dont understand is that every time something like this comes up, it makes it worse for them and for those of us that want peace. As large as the US military is now, there are millions of gun carrying yahoos and gangsters not in the military that make up the majority of the U.S. (There are more gangsters in the US than members in AlQuada...) All they need is an excuse, so don't give it to them. The last thing the Islamic world needs now is for a bonefied "Crusade" to be called against them...

Posted by: Aaron | Jun 5, 2006 12:18:35 PM

The free world is not going to bow down and except the Islamic way. People want freedom to speak and choose and the right to pursue prosperity! Let Iran do what they want to with their nuclear power, like a child with a dangerous toy. When they hurt someone with it, they can rightfully be "spanked" by the world!

What's up with Mr. Fegel?

Posted by: Gerld | Jun 5, 2006 5:25:51 PM

The History

Korea emerged in 1948 amid the chaos following the end of World War II. Its history is dominated by the concept of "Juche" or self reliance. This philosophy is important extreme when understanding Korea's development. After the Korean War, Kim Jong-II took over as Head of State.

In 1950, the world was comming to terms with the aftermath of World War II, a new conflict broke out at the edge of the Asian continent. The US and its allies were against the USSR, North Korea, and communist China. This conflict is marked with a devasting death toll. At least two million Korean civilians, approximately 1.5 million communist forces, around 30,000 US soldiers, 400,000 South Korean soldiers and 1,000 United Kingdom soldiers are believed to have died.

The war in Korea did not end in 1953. A cease-fire was placed on July 27, 1953, but no peace treaty was ever signed between the opposing countries. A De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) was established, which officially seperated Korea into North and South. The zone is 248 kilometers long and approximately four kilometers wide, and its one of the world's heavest- fortified borders with roughly one million soldiers on each side. Decades of a rigid state controled system have led to food shortages, caused by natural disasters and economic mismanagement (human rights abuses, torture, public executions, slave labor, forced abortions and infanticides), and a multitude of political prisoners in North Korea.




Posted by: Richardo Brown | Sep 15, 2007 10:44:05 AM

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