(Hat tip to LGF)
A network of al-Qaeda agents was rounded up before it could carry out a plot to attack the American Embassy in Ottawa, U.S. intelligence sources say. The Central Intelligence Agency was alerted to the al-Qaeda conspiracy by Syriaâs intelligence service, which has been co-operating with Washington since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, sources say.
that would be âperiodicallyâ cooperating
Flynt Leverett, a former CIA analyst who until recently served at the U.S. National Security Council, confirmed yesterday that a suspected plot against an American target in Ottawa was averted, but would not provide further details. However, sources told CanWest News Service that al-Qaeda planned to attack the U.S. Embassy, aiming at least to kill the marine guards who form the frontline of defence at the heavily guarded embassy in the capitalâs downtown core.
RCMP Insp. André Guertin said the force has no knowledge of any terrorist plot to assault the embassy. Sources would not give a time frame for the attack nor say whether it involved a bomb, but credited Syrian intelligence for alerting the CIA which passed on the information to Canadian authorities. "We were able basically to round up a network that was going to carry out the plot," one high-level source said. The revelation about an al-Qaeda plot at an American target in Ottawa was first reported by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh in this weekâs New Yorker.
After arrest the A-Q operatives were given a stern "talking to" and offered dual citizenship as a rehabilitation effort
| Semour reported it? Kinda knocks it down a bit in validity... |
"What Hersh had in the article, I can confirm is accurate, but I canât really go further than that," said Mr. Leverett, now a fellow at the Saban Centre at the Washington-based Brookings Institute. "I canât talk about the details of that." Mr. Leverett said Syria provided Washington with first-rate intelligence about future al-Qaeda plans, including the Ottawa conspiracy and a plot to fly a glider loaded with explosives into the U.S. Navyâs 5th fleet headquarters in Bahrain. "The reports we got exceeded (CIA) expectations both in quantity and quality and several of them turned out be actionable. We actually could do things to stop operations from going down on the basis of what the Syrians told us," Mr. Leverett said. "We could break up networks. Bad guys got arrested. It was useful stuff."
Ahmad Arnous, the Syrian ambassador to Canada, said yesterday he did not have personal knowledge of the al-Qaeda intrigue, but confirmed Syrian intelligence has provided useful information to the CIA and CSIS. Mr. Arnous said Syria even shared classified information with the CIA and CSIS on Maher Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen who U.S. authorities say has ties to al-Qaeda. Mr. Arar, a 32-year old Ottawa engineer who was the target of a joint Canada-U.S. investigation, is now in a Syrian prison because of alleged links to terrorism. Sources say Mr. Arar was tracked when he left Canada last year for a vacation to Tunisia. On his return home, he was arrested Sept. 26 by U.S. immigration authorities while changing flights at New Yorkâs Kennedy Airport and deported to Syria on Oct. 8 even though he was carrying a Canadian passport. "There is some kind of co-operation between all countries friendly with Syria, including Canada because even on Mr. Arar there was a communication between the security people in Canada and Syrian anti-terrorism people," Mr. Arnous said. Mr. Arar was first sent to Jordan for 10 days where the CIA has a special interrogation site for al-Qaeda agents. In April, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci, told a private audience that Mr. Arar was under surveillance long before his arrest and deportation to Damascus. "Mr. Arar is very well known to Canadian law enforcement. They understand our handling of the case. They wouldnât be happy to see him come back to Canada," Mr. Cellucci said.
Last month, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien wrote to Mr. Ararâs wife, Monia Mazigh, promising to fight for the return of her husband to Canada, although Foreign Affairs acknowledges they have not been able to see Mr. Arar since last April. But a U.S. source said the Canadian government "knows much more about Arar than they are telling Canadians," saying the RCMP quietly asked the U.S. government to arrest Mr. Arar in New York City and deport him. "Arar had been monitored for a long time. Canadian authorities knew about him long in advance before his arrest. He had been in Afghanistan with al-Qaeda," a source said. Mr. Ararâs wife denies her husband was ever in Afghanistan and insists he is not linked to al-Qaeda or any other terrorist group.
| "He wasn't in Afghanistan! He was... ummm... someplace else." |
The Syrians also arrested another Ottawa man, Abdullah Almalki, last summer when he was travelling in Syria. Mr. Almalki remains in a Syrian prison, but little is known about him or the reasons for the arrest. Foreign Affairs says two other Canadian men are also being detained overseas, but each has asked the department to keep his identity secret for reasons of privacy. One, who holds dual Canadian-Syrian citizenship, is being held in Syria. The other man holds Canadian and Egyptian citizenship and is considered by authorities to be a serious security risk. According to the New Yorker, the Syrians compiled hundreds of files on al-Qaeda and penetrated al-Qaeda cells throughout the Middle-East and in the Arab exile community. |
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmad Arnous stated Tuesday that Damascus was willing to join Israel at the negotiating table. His statement comes only a few days after sources around Prime Minister Ehud Olmert confirmed the existence of a secret track between Israel and Syria. "Syria is prepared to renew talks based upon the land for peace principle, without preconditions, to bring about stability and security in the region," Arnous said. 
Syrian officials are seeking to convince their people that "Syria is targeted and not the regime" according to the principle "constructive chaos" in order to counter the American and European discourse which focuses on the foreign pressures "did not target the Syrian people but some officials".