Al Qaeda attack on Canada 'probable': CSIS
- From: "Vincent" <TraderAlert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 10 May 2006 13:15:14 GMT
Al Qaeda attack on Canada 'probable': CSIS
CTV.ca News Staff
The head of Canada's spy agency says while the threat from al Qaeda remains
strongest overseas, a terror attack on Canadian soil is "now probable."
In his annual report to the government, Jim Judd says the Canadian Security
Intelligence Service's highest priority involves working at preventing
attacks occurring in, or originating from, Canada.
"The threat of further attacks by Sunni Islamic extremists and other
like-minded groups continues, bringing with it elevated demands on the
service's resources," says the report, which covers the year 2004-05.
A focus of the intelligence service's counter-terrorism program "was
therefore the interdiction and removal" of such radicals.
"During the past year, Canada and Canadian interests abroad continued to be
under threat from al Qaeda and its affiliated groups," Judd says.
"While the threat remains concentrated overseas, an attack on Canadian soil
is now probable."
Judd's comments represent some of the strongest language ever used by a
senior Canadian official in characterizing the threat from Osama bin Laden's
al Qaeda network.
A declassified copy of the top secret report was obtained Tuesday by The
Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
It was first delivered in late November to then-public safety minister Anne
McLellan, who was later defeated in the January 2006 election.
Al Qaeda included Canada on a list of target countries in both November 2002
and March 2004.
Meanwhile, Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan are coming under repeated attack
from al Qaeda and Taliban elements opposed to the new western-supported
government in Kabul.
'High degree of vigilance'
Stephen Rigby, acting national security adviser to Prime Minister Stephen
Harper, told CP Tuesday the government is maintaining "a very high degree of
vigilance" with respect to al Qaeda.
"We're just trying to increase the level of sophistication as to how we
refine that consideration of the threat, where it might come, how it might
come," Rigby told CP after speaking to a conference on national security.
Federal officials have paid "a lot more" attention to the possibility of a
strike on transit systems since the deadly terrorist attacks on commuters in
Madrid and London, he said.
That extends to closely examining the explosive devices used by extremists
in these attacks.
"We study those, and we sort of consider various scenarios in which they
might be used in Canada," Rigby said. "We try to develop the most refined
threat scenarios that we can."
Rigby said, however, that Canadian officials have "no specific evidence" of
a plot at this time.
Transport Canada's John Forster said that transportation systems have
figured in one way or another in almost every major terrorist attack during
the last 30 years.
One concern is that terrorists might set off a "dirty bomb" -- a
conventional explosive laced with radiological material that could
contaminate several city blocks.
Judd's report says the spy service's counter-proliferation branch, which
tries to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction, "continued to
investigate Shiite and state-sponsored terrorism," as well as the activities
of certain unnamed foreign governments.
The report also stresses the service's involvement in the security screening
of visitors to Canada, including refugee claimants, immigrants, prospective
citizens and employees who work at sensitive government jobs and
installations such as nuclear plants and airports.
With files from the Canadian Press
.
- Prev by Date: Re: é UFFICIALE
- Next by Date: Re: NCR Position
- Previous by thread: é UFFICIALE
- Next by thread: Homeland security news review
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
