Canada Arrests 19 in Case with Sept. 11th Parallels

Reuters ^

[Mean Daddy]

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian police arrested 19 men last week in a case that, according to court documents obtained by a newspaper, has eerie parallels to the preparations for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokeswoman Michele Paradis on Friday confirmed the arrests but declined to offer details.

"We arrested 19 people last Thursday," Paradis said, adding the operation had involved four police departments from across the Greater Toronto area.

"They're all related and it's all part of, what we're alleging, has to do with a group taking advantage of a system -- the immigration system here in Canada."

The Toronto Star newspaper said the men were arrested after a "pattern of suspicious behavior" which featured one man taking flight lessons that took him directly over an Ontario nuclear power plant.

In court documents obtained by the newspaper, the student pilot was described as "unmotivated" and he raised suspicion because he has trained for nearly three years to obtain a commercial pilots license that normally takes only a year.

"He often brings with him an unknown male as a passenger," the document read.

The alleged incidents evoke chilling memories of the Sept. 11 attacks, where the suicide hijackers who flew commercial planes into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington took lessons at U.S. flight schools.

The newspaper said two other men were considered suspicious after police found them in April 2002 outside the same nuclear plant, which sits near the shores of Lake Ontario.

"They requested that they be allowed to enter the perimeter in order to go for a walk on the beach," the document said.

Police said the detained men, who are from Pakistan, tended to "reside in clusters of 4 or 5" and changed addresses as a group, according to the newspaper.

Paradis said the investigation, called Project Thread, began last February. She referred questions to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, which did not immediately return calls seeking more information.

[Az Joe]

Gee I didn't even think about Canadian domestic flights being hijacked. Wouldn't take much effort to fly those planes south.

[Ranger]

Surprising how little news coverage is focused on this very important development.

[MizSterious]

I've seen a couple versions of it (from other wire services) posted on FR. I haven't heard so much as a word about it on any of the national news shows.

[MizSterious]

"They're all related and it's all part of, what we're alleging, has to do with a group taking advantage of a system -- the immigration system here in Canada."

This is what bothers me about this story. They let anyone into Canada, and even sneer at us because of the few precautions we take.

[Loyalist]

I haven't heard so much as a word about it on any of the national news shows.

The mainstream Canadian media will try to bury this as deeply as possible. This story doesn't accord with the governing elite opinion that Canada is beloved of all the world for her tolerance and diversity.

[mitchbert]

Oddly enough, the original story broke in the Toronto Star, the very last paper I would have expected to run it. Next to The Star the NYT looks positively conservative. No Streisand.

[Cindy]

FYI...

THE TORONTO STAR: POLICE BUST DRUG SMUGGLING RINGS
Nine arrested in raids and cocaine, heroin, hash oil seized
Dope hidden in airport cargo and luggage, officer says" by Cal Millar, Staff Reporter (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Police have smashed narcotic smuggling networks that used high school buddies as drug mules to carry cocaine and heroin from the Caribbean to Toronto and then employed friendly airport staff to get it through security screening.

Staff Inspector Dan Hayes, head of the Toronto police drug squad, said investigators found that drug criminals were using airport workers in Trinidad to conceal narcotics in cargo containers on commercial flights to Toronto.") (August 22, 2003)
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?GXHC_gx_session_id_=c29971d22026a2d9&pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1061503818957&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154

CANADA.com: "VULNERABILITY OF ONTARIO NUCLEAR PLANTS TO AIR TERRORIST ATTACK SERIOUS CONCERN" (AUGUST 22, 2003)

(ARTICLE SNIPPET: "TORONTO -- Top government and public safety officials expressed concern Friday over the vulnerability of Ontario's nuclear power plants to a potential terrorist attack from the air.

Their fears came amid reports that Canadian authorities had arrested 19 people with suspected terrorist links.

Among them was one man enrolled in a flight school where training involves flying over the Pickering nuclear power plant.

''It certainly gives one cause for concern, there's no doubt about that,'' said Premier Ernie Eves.

''Security at nuclear facilities, first of all; the standards for that are determined by the federal government under our system and we work with them to try and enforce that as much as you can.''")
http://www.canada.com/national/story.asp?id=F4A76006-D6C2-4952-BC10-53145BE55356

[Timeout]

This hasn't been picked up yet by the NY Times, WashPost or LA Times. I heard in on ABC's liberal news at the top of the hour. Interesting that none of the "majors" have it.

[Timeout]

Keith Olberman just opened his show with this story.
______________________________

Am I the only one who noticed the number: 19

Think: 9/11

Was their nationality discussed anywhere?

[Timeout]

Got it....Pakistanis. What a surprise.

[swarthyguy]

Also here...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/968676/posts

[Cindy]

re post no. 10... On The Net...www.obm.clara.net/i/preview.jpg: ISLAMIC CONFERENCE - SEPT 11TH 2003 - www.almuhjiroun.com: "THE MAGNIFICENT 19"

On The Net...YAHOO! Groups - ALMUHAJIROUN_UK: " BUSH & BLAIR CHOKE ON THE FALLOUT AFTER SEPTEMBER 11TH" (August 17, 2003)

[river rat]

We keep hearing of "arrests"..

When the hell do we start hearing about executions?
LOTS of them....

Semper Fi

[Cindy]

WorldNetDaily.com: "Did police thwart 9-11-style attack?
Parallels drawn between 19 Pakistanis arrested in Toronto area, 19 hijackers (August 22, 2003)
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34224

[Cindy]

Info Ping

[CFC__VRWC]

We keep hearing of "arrests"..

When the hell do we start hearing about executions?

Since it's Canada, you'll be waiting a long time for those executions. As far as the arrests go, what the Canadians do with them is what to watch. I just can't see the Canadian government punishing them very hard - that would be showing an "anti-Muslim bias" after all, and we can't have that. Maybe they'll just point them south and tell them, "There's the US - they've got nuke plants too."

[Cindy]

FYI Links of Interest...

FOX NEWS.com (AP): "STUDY: NEW 9/11-STYLE ATTACK LIKELY" ARTICLE SNIPPET: "LONDON - Another Sept. 11-style terrorism attack is "highly likely" in the United States, which ranks fourth in an index assessing the risk to 186 countries, a research company said Sunday.") (August 17, 2003) (Read More...)

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: "ATTACK ON AMERICA!" (Updated) (Read More...)

An Interesting Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding a REUTERS article: "CANADA ARRESTS 19 IN CASE WITH SEPT. 11TH PARALLELS" (August 22, 2003) (Read More...)

An Interesting Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding a CanWest News Service Article by Brian Krebs and Joseph Menn, with files from Jason Fekete: 'SOBIG' VIRUS TRACED TO CANADIAN COMPUTER" (August 23, 2003) (Read More...)

An Interesting Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding an ABCnews.go.com article by Alexandra Salomon: "Terrorists' Twin Tower Images, Secret Porn Messages" (May 8, 2003) (Read More...)

FBI.gov - War On Terrorism: "SEEKING INFORMATION"

FBI.gov: "MOST WANTED TERRORISTS"

[Cindy]

Related link and updated info here...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/969497/posts