Alleged 'Toronto 18' ringleader named in U.S. terror case

An alleged ringleader of the “Toronto 18” group has been named as a “co-conspirator” in a terrorism case in the United States.

An indictment filed in Atlanta recently links Fahim Ahmad with a network of extremists that stretched from Canada and the U.S. to Pakistan and the Balkans.

It says two Atlanta men, Ehsanul Islam Sadequee and Syed Haris Ahmed, took a bus to Toronto on March 6, 2005, to meet Mr. Ahmad and “other supporters of violent jihad,” including a man identified as Azdi Omani.

During the Toronto meetings, the conspirators discussed possible terrorist targets in the U.S., including military bases, oil storage facilities and refineries, the indictment says.

“They also discussed a plan for members of the group to travel to Pakistan to seek and receive paramilitary training that they would then use to engage in violent jihad,” it says.

They intended to train with Lashkar-e-Taiba, according to the indictment. The LeT is the Pakistan-based terrorist group blamed for the recent massacre in Mumbai, India.

The superceding indictment charges the Atlanta men with recording “casing videos” of terrorist targets in Washington, D.C., shortly after they had visited Toronto. It was filed in court in December and replaced a 2006 indictment that made no mention of Fahim Ahmad.

The indictment provides an expanded look at extremists in several countries who allegedly communicated on Internet forums as they prepared terrorist attacks.

They included the two Atlanta men, Mr. Ahmad, Aabid Khan (a British man also known as Abu Umar, who has since been convicted of terrorism offences), Younis Tsouli (since convicted of terrorism-related offences), and an alleged Bosnian terrorist named Mirsad Bektasevic, better known as Maximus. Mr. Sadequee and Mr. Ahmed have pleaded not guilty.

Fahim Ahmad is one of 10 men awaiting trial for alleged violations of the Anti-Terrorism Act. He was among 18 Toronto-area men arrested by the RCMP in the summer of 2006 and accused of belonging to a “homegrown” Canadian terrorist group that was plotting to attack the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa and detonate truck bombs in Toronto. One member of the group was found guilty last year.

Meanwhile, a “secret” government report says mass transit systems and government building are among the most likely targets of a homegrown Canadian terrorist cell.

The intelligence report obtained by the National Post lists the “targets most likely to be attacked” by homegrown terrorists and how such an operation would be executed.

Landmark commercial buildings, popular outdoor cafés and nightclubs, and the U.S. embassy and consulates are also likely targets, it says. Airport terminals and oil and gas facilities are “potential but less obvious targets in Canada.”

“Homegrown cells seek to emulate an AQ [al-Qaeda] attack, but on a smaller scale. They may begin with grandiose plans, but typically end up selecting soft targets (undefended with exploitable vulnerabilities), and often ones that they are familiar with,” it says.

The newly-released intelligence report focuses on the targets of homegrown terrorists, which it defines as “long-time residents or citizens of Western countries who are not directly connected to any terrorist group, but who have embraced the AQ [al-Qaeda] philosophy.”

Should a homegrown cell emerge undetected in Canada, the most likely attack scenario would involve two or more improvised explosive devices detonated in a large Canadian city, the report says.

“These would detonate within a short time frame so that the attacks would be sufficiently simultaneous to be grouped as one event. It is possible that a second IED would be placed near the first in order to target first responders. The attack would occur without warning and most likely without subsequent claims of responsibility.”

The report was written by the Integrated Threat Assessment Centre, which is made up of representatives of CSIS, RCMP, military and other agencies. It is classified “Secret” and dated Aug. 30, 2007, but a de-classified version was recently released under the Access to Information Act, although passages had been removed for national security reasons.

Security officials consider homegrown terrorists one of the most dangerous terrorist threats facing Canada. The Post recently revealed that the government has been using several “counter-radicalization techniques” to steer Canadian Muslims away from violent extremism.

Tom Quiggin, an Ottawa-based terrorism expert, said the Canadian targets identified in the report were “just kind of a laundry list” that read like it had been compiled by intelligence officials asking: “If we were terrorists, what would we attack?”

He said homegrown terrorism remains a concern for Canada. “Is this still an ongoing threat? I would say yes because the stimulus that causes these things to happen is still there,” he said.