Al qaeda

Friday February 5, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 5, 2021

Proud Boys: Canada labels far-right group a terrorist entity

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said the decision was influenced by the group’s “pivotal role” in the 6 January riots at the Capitol in Washington, DC.

The designation allows the Proud Boys’ assets to be frozen, and members of the groups could be charged with terrorist offences if they commit violent acts.

The group is all-male and anti-immigrant, and has a history of violent political confrontations.

It was founded in 2016 by Gavin McInnes, the Canadian co-founder of Vice Media. Vice has since worked to distance itself from Mr McInnes and the Proud Boys.

The Proud Boys’ platform includes ideas espoused by former US President Donald Trump, libertarianism and traditional gender roles.

The group was mentioned by Mr Trump during the first US presidential debate last October.

July 11, 2019

Responding to a question about white supremacist and militia groups, he said, “Proud Boys – stand back and stand by”, which members of the group online took as a call to prepare for action. Mr Trump later distanced himself from them.

The announcement in Canada comes one week after the US Department of Homeland Security warned of a “heightened threat” of domestic terrorism from violent extremists unhappy with the outcome of the presidential election. 

And just hours after the announcement, the US Justice Department announced it had arrested and charged a top member of the group’s Seattle chapter. Ethan Nordean, 30, who is also known as Rufio Panman, is at least the eighth group member to be charged in connection with the Capitol riots. 

In Canada on Wednesday, Mr Blair described a “growing threat of ideologically motivated violent extremism”. He did not specify how many Proud Boy chapters are currently in Canada.

The Canadian Proud Boy groups had previously been thought of as disparate and disorganised, but the new designation suggests their perceived threat has been elevated. 

The decision was made based on “a trove of new information”, Mr Blair said. “Over the past several months, basically since 2018, we have seen an escalation towards violence for this group [the Proud Boys].” 

The escalation has continued since the US presidential election, he added. (BBC) 

Thursday February 19, 2015

Thursday February 19, 2015Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 19, 2015

Via terror suspect pondered triggering Yellowstone volcano, court told

A man accused of plotting to derail a Canadian passenger train also thought about triggering a catastrophic volcanic blast in the United States, his trial heard Tuesday.

Testifying for a third week, an undercover FBI agent said Chiheb Esseghaier pondered the possibility of getting the volcano in Yellowstone National Park to erupt.

Thursday, April 25, 2013Esseghaier, who is charged with various terror-related offences along with co-accused Raed Jaser, spoke of the “death and destruction” a blast could cause, court heard.

“Wouldn’t it be great if my enemies’ worst national disaster could happen?” the agent cited Esseghaier, 30, as saying.

The Montreal PhD student from Tunisia was “very passionate” about the volcano in the park, the agent said. The volcano, which last erupted 640,000 years ago, straddles the borders of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.

Ultimately, however, he decided the idea was not feasible.

Wednesday, April 24 2013“No. We cannot do anything to make the volcano erupt. It’s very deep. I don’t have any access,” Esseghaier apparently told the agent.

“It was his conclusion that we need to focus on the project or projects,” the agent told Superior Court.

“The train plot was a better bet than the volcano,” defence lawyer John Norris, who represents Jaser, said by way of clarification.

The idea of a train attack, apparently, had come from “The Responsible One,” a man Esseghaier had met in Iran who supposedly had close ties to top Al Qaeda leaders. (Continued: Toronto Star)

Friday August 22, 2014

Friday August 22, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday August 22, 2014

Islamic State ‘has 50,000 fighters in Syria’

The Islamic State group has an army of more than 50,000 fighters in Syria, and recruited 6,000 people in the last month, a monitoring group has said.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said on Tuesday that the group’s recruitment push was gathering pace every month.

“The number of IS fighters has passed 50,000 in Syria, including 20,000 non-Syrians,” he said.

Al Jazeera cannot verify the observatory’s figures. However, an Islamic State source backed the statement and told Al Jazeera that the group also had 30,000 fighters in Iraq.

Abdel Rahman said the new recruits in Syria included more than 1,000 foreign fighters from Chechnya, China, Europe and Arab countries. He said most had entered Syria from Turkey.

Other recruits included defectors from the ranks of other armed opposition groups, including 200 from the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, the Nusra Front.

The Islamic State group, formerly known as ISIL, grew out of the American-led war in Iraq, and entered the civil war in Syria last year. It attempted to take command of Nusra and denounced al-Qaeda’s overall leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, as “straying from the path”.

The Islamic State group initially cooperated with some of the armed opposition in Syria, but its abuses against rival rebels and civilians sparked a backlash that began this January.

It has recently taken over vast areas of neighbouring Iraq and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, earlier this year declared himself the caliph of territory captured on both sides of the border. (Source: Al Jazeera)

 

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Thursday, April 25, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday, April 25, 2013

Muslims Helped Foil Terror Plot In Canada

Members of Canada’s Muslim community helped tip off authorities to a terrorist plan to attack a train, allegedly devised by two men working with al Qaeda.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced Monday that Raed Jaser and suspected accomplice Chiheb Esseghaier were arrested in connection with a terror plot to derail a Via Rail Canada train within the country, according to the New York Times. Police did not identify which train the suspects planned to attack nor how they planned to derail it.

Muhammad Robert Heft, a Muslim community leader in Ontario, told the Toronto Sun that the imam of a local Muslim community helped foil the terror plot by alerting authorities.

“At the end of the day, it’s not how you dress, it’s how you think,” he said. “In our community we may look a little different, but in our hearts we love Canada. It’s our country. It’s our tribe. We want safety for all Canadians regardless of their religion.”

Heft made sure to push back against misconceptions that Canadian Muslims do not share information with authorities. “We have to be on the front lines,” he told the Sun. “To either nip it in the bud in the very beginning or cooperate with authorities so they can be brought to justice.”

Heft told CNN that Canadian police revealed the imam’s help in thwarting the incident during a Monday briefing with members of the Islamic community.

“We are supportive and thankful that the RCMP did the investigation and was able to apprehend the individuals before anything happened,” he said. “We are pleased that they took us in and explained what was going on.” (Source: Huffington Post)

Thursday March 1, 2007

March 1, 2007

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 1, 2007

Terror vote fails as Dion reins in Liberals

Two controversial measures in the federal Anti-Terrorism Act will disappear from the law books after a vote last night in the House of Commons that marked the first major political test for Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion.

In a vote of 159 to 124, the combined opposition defeated a Conservative minority government motion that would have renewed the extraordinary legal powers of authorities to detain and interrogate terrorism suspects.

The Liberal caucus was deeply divided on the issue as recently as last week. But by the time of last night’s vote, only one Liberal — Tom Wappell — abandoned Mr. Dion and voted with the Conservatives.

Former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler abstained, and a dozen other Liberals were absent, some for health reasons.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Mr. Dion had to force his caucus into line, thus putting internal party politics ahead of national security.

Mr. Harper said the failure of the renewal motion is not the end of the matter, suggesting the government might introduce fresh legislation.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said “the government will get to work … to protect Canadians” by fashioning new tools to combat terrorism. He did not specify what the government intends to do.

Mr. Day once again hammered Mr. Dion for “this very distressing flip-flop.” The New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois have long opposed the renewal. But the Liberals took most of the political heat from the Conservatives.

Sensing an opportunity to drive a wedge between Mr. Dion and some of his caucus members, Mr. Harper last week called the Liberal Leader “soft on terrorism.”

The Prime Minister’s tone did not change Tuesday. He said Mr. Dion “denigrates the police in this country.” The Liberal Leader, meanwhile, said he was taking a principled stand in defence of human rights. (Source: Globe & Mail) 

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