Justin
06-03-2006, 06:02 PM
Toronto terror plot foiled -- Canada
TORONTO, Ontario (CNN) -- Canadian police on Saturday said they have prevented a major al Qaeda-inspired terror plot to attack targets in southern Ontario.
Twelve adults and five young people were arrested, authorities said.
"This group took steps to acquire three tons of ammonium nitrate and other components necessary to create explosive devices," said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Mike McDonell. (Watch police chief say how the bomb materials were obtained -- 0:36)
"To put this in context, the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people took one ton of ammonium nitrate."
The detained suspects are all men, Canadian residents "from a variety of backgrounds" and followers of a "dangerous ideology inspired by al Qaeda," said Luc Portelance, assistant director of operations for Canadian Security Intelligence Service, in a news conference. (Full list of adult suspects)
The targets were all in Toronto, CNN's Jeanne Meserve reported at least one source as telling her.
The charges include: participating in terrorist group activity, including training and recruitment; the provision of property for terrorist purposes; and the "commission of indictable offenses, including firearms and explosives in association with a terrorist group."
"Canada is not immune to the threat of terrorism," McDonell said.
The Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto said the operation "appeared to be the most concerted such sweep in Canada since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
The men were arrested on Friday, and more arrests were expected through the night, police spokeswoman Cpl. Michele Paradis told CNN.
The sweep was a joint operation involving most of the police forces in the Toronto area, she said.
Federal agencies including border and intelligence agents worked with the police under the auspices of the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, Paradis said.
Such anti-terror operations in Canada are rare. It's not clear if the sweep is related to a raid in East London Friday, one of the largest there since the London transit bombings in July. That raid was carried out with the help of police and Britain's domestic spy agency, MI5. (Full story)
In March 2004 a man from Ottawa, Canada -- Mohammad Momin Khawaja -- was charged in connection with terror-related offenses that involved activities there and in London.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/06/03/canada.terror/index.html
TORONTO, Ontario (CNN) -- Canadian police on Saturday said they have prevented a major al Qaeda-inspired terror plot to attack targets in southern Ontario.
Twelve adults and five young people were arrested, authorities said.
"This group took steps to acquire three tons of ammonium nitrate and other components necessary to create explosive devices," said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Mike McDonell. (Watch police chief say how the bomb materials were obtained -- 0:36)
"To put this in context, the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people took one ton of ammonium nitrate."
The detained suspects are all men, Canadian residents "from a variety of backgrounds" and followers of a "dangerous ideology inspired by al Qaeda," said Luc Portelance, assistant director of operations for Canadian Security Intelligence Service, in a news conference. (Full list of adult suspects)
The targets were all in Toronto, CNN's Jeanne Meserve reported at least one source as telling her.
The charges include: participating in terrorist group activity, including training and recruitment; the provision of property for terrorist purposes; and the "commission of indictable offenses, including firearms and explosives in association with a terrorist group."
"Canada is not immune to the threat of terrorism," McDonell said.
The Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto said the operation "appeared to be the most concerted such sweep in Canada since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
The men were arrested on Friday, and more arrests were expected through the night, police spokeswoman Cpl. Michele Paradis told CNN.
The sweep was a joint operation involving most of the police forces in the Toronto area, she said.
Federal agencies including border and intelligence agents worked with the police under the auspices of the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, Paradis said.
Such anti-terror operations in Canada are rare. It's not clear if the sweep is related to a raid in East London Friday, one of the largest there since the London transit bombings in July. That raid was carried out with the help of police and Britain's domestic spy agency, MI5. (Full story)
In March 2004 a man from Ottawa, Canada -- Mohammad Momin Khawaja -- was charged in connection with terror-related offenses that involved activities there and in London.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/06/03/canada.terror/index.html