Fall 2004 - The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) begins monitoring an anti-Western Internet chat room used, allegedly, by some members of the indicted Canadian terror group. [4] *
November 17, 2004 - CSIS notifies the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that they are monitoring the group because they believe the group could be criminally prosecuted. [1] **
March 1, 2005 - June 2, 2006 - Indicted group members "knowingly participate in or contribute to . . . (the) activity of a terrorist group" [9] and engage in activity intended "to cause an explosion . . . that is likely to cause serious bodily harm or
death . . . or serious damage to property." [10]
March 13, 2005 - Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, an American, and Syed Haris Ahmed, living in Atlanta, GA, travel by bus from Atlanta to Toronto and meet with at least three members of the Canadian group. They had allegedly been emailing two of the Canadian group's members. At some time, they had also visited Washington D.C. to videotape the U.S. Capitol building and other locations. [3, 4, 5, 18] ***
August 13, 2005 - Two Canadians from the Toronto area, Ali Dirie and Yasin Mohamed, are arrested for firearms possession while trying to return to Canada. Their car had been rented by Fahim Ahmad who was not arrested at this time. [1, 4, 6] The three men would later be included in the June 5, 2006 terrorism indictment. [11]
Late summer - early fall 2005 - The Canadian group looking at possible training camp location. [17]
November 27, 2005 - December 31, 2005 - Members of the Canadian group receive training for terrorist purposes, according to the indictment. [9] Group members trained from December 18, 2005 till December 25, 2005, according to the Canadian government's case synopsis. [17]
January 2006 - CBC News says that dates of incidents in court documents go back to January 2006, "indicating that Canadian security services have had the group under surveillance for a consierable period." [20] The June 7, 2006 Globe and Mail reported that the Canadian government's 8-page synopsis of their case says that the police had been gathering evidence on the group for "months." [17]
February 2006 - Investigators or intelligence analysts brief the Toronto police on the suspected terror group. [4, 19] The mayor of Toronto is briefed either shortly before [19] or shortly after [4] the police were briefed.
Late April 2006 - Sadequee, the American who traveled to Toronto by bus, is indicted in Brooklyn, New York for "making false statements to the FBI." His travel partner, Ahmed, is indicted in Atlanta, Georgia for "material support of terrorism." [5] ****
Late May - early June 2006 - CBC News says that, during this time, the Canadian group allegedly begin talk of obtaining three tons of ammonium nitrate, a potential bomb-making ingredient. [19] It also says that the group "at one point had a rental agreement for a house in Toronto where the bomb-making supplies would be stored and the bombs constructed. But they later changed their minds and moved to a warehouse." [20] The Toronto Star says the talk of acquiring the three tons of ammonium nitrate allegedly began in June. [4]
June 2006 - The group had three tons of ammonium nitrate delivered to them with the "intent to use it for a terrorist attack." They also "took steps to acquire components (to create bombs) from the ammonium nitrate." [2] The police were conducting a sting operation on the group. [17]
June 2, 2006 - Seventeen group members are arrested for "terrorism related offenses," including two who are already in prison. The seventeen include 12 adults and five minors. [2, 15] All are "Canadian" [12] or "Canadian residents." [13] All are Muslim. [14] Some reports say that arrests were also made on June 3. [15, 16]
Footnotes:* The "CSIS was monitoring Internet sites and tracing the paths of Canadians believed to have ties to international terrorist organizations . . . Local youths espousing fundamentalist views drew special attention." [1] "CSIS targets individuals and groups based on their activities....(They) must be engaging in activities that are believed to be in support of espionage, sabotage, foreign-influenced activity or activities in support of terrorism . . . All intrusive methods of investigation used by CSIS are subject to several levels of approval before they are deployed. The most intrusive methods—such as electronic surveillance, mail opening, and covert searches—require a warrant issued by a judge of the Federal Court of Canada." [7]
** The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are Canada's "national police service." It serves as "a national, federal, provincial and municipal policing body." [8]
*** The FBI says that the U.S. has been cooperating with the Canadian police since the March 2005 meeting between Sadequee, Ahmed and members of the Canadian group. [18]
****Sadequee and Ahmed have not been part of the Canadian indictments as of this time.
Sources:
[1] Toronto Star. June 3, 2006. How Internet monitoring sparked a CSIS probe.
[2] Royal Canadian Mounted Police. June 3, 2006. Seventeen arrested on anti-terrorism charges [3] Los Angeles Times. June 4, 2006. Canada arrests 17 in alleged terror plot.
[4] Toronto Star. June 5, 2006. Plot began in chat room.
[5] Federal Bureau of Investigation. April 21, 2006. Defendant arrested and charged with making false statements to the FBI.
[6] WGRZ-TV, Buffalo. August 14, 2005. Weapons arrest at Peace Bridge.
[7] Canadian Security Intelligence Service. November 14, 2005 (date modified). Frequently asked questions. [8] Royal Canadian Mounted Police. December 22, 2003, (revised November 7, 2005). About the RCMP.
[9] Crown vs. Fahim Ahmad, et al. Indictment. Appendix B, #1. June 5, 2006. Findlaw. Legal News and Commentary. Canadian terror indictment alleging plot to make explosive devices.
[10] Crown vs. Fahim Ahmad, et al. Indictment. Appendix B, #6. June 5, 2006. Findlaw. Legal News and Commentary. Canadian terror indictment alleging plot to make explosive devices.
[11] Crown vs. Fahim Ahmad, et al. Indictment. Appendix A. June 5, 2006. Findlaw. Legal News and Commentary. Canadian terror indictment alleging plot to make explosive devices.
[12] Toronto Star. June 6, 2006. National interest must come first.
[13] The New York Times. June 4, 2006. 17 held in plot to bomb sites in Ontario.
[14] Toronto Star. June 6, 2006. Editorial: Time to challenge Muslim extremists.
[15] Toronto Star. June 7, 2006. Plan to "behead" PM.[16] CBC News. June 5, 2006. Overview.[17] The Globe and Mail. June 7, 2006. How the police watched the plan unfold.[18] CBC News. June 4, 2006. Theories surface about what led to Ontario arrests.[19] CBC News. June 6, 2006. Investigation timeline.[20] CBC News. June 7, 2006. Security services had bomb plot suspects under surveillance for more than six month.update: June 16, 2006, 7:38 pm (new york)
unlink dead links: June 16, 2006, 7:11 pm (new york)
