Canada's Al-Qaeda Sleeper
This is a nervous world we inhabit. At the very least a cautious one, always looking out for the appearance of someone whose malevolent intent against society, if left unchecked, may result in the kind of surprise no country wants to anticipate, nor to mop up, after the fact. It is for that reason - based on successfully bloody terrorist attacks elsewhere in the world, that Canada's security agencies maintain a vigilant look-out.And when they have reason to suspect, when they have garnered sufficient evidence to warrant the apprehension of a 'sleeper agent' who has inveigled himself as an innocent immigrant into the country, they take action lest their inaction result in disaster. And so it was with Mohamed Harkat, an Algerian whose activities were closely monitored by suspicious agents with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Mr. Harkat has yet to stand trial, but he was apprehended as a member of an extreme faction of Islamists whose agenda has been clearly delineated in various communiques, and through a number of horrific terrorist attacks against targets throughout the world. Where those same attacks have targeted Muslims and non-Muslims alike, all held in contempt by fanatic Muslims.
Mr. Harkat, now 40, was arrested on the strength of a security certificate in December of 2002. A section chief with CSIS testified that "Mr. Harkat showed the characteristics of being a sleeper agent after arriving in Canada." He was incarcerated for a number of years, with his Canadian wife launching a crusade for his release, claiming him to be innocent of the charges brought against him.
CSIS claims Mr. Harket fought with the mujahadeen in Afghanistan during the early 1990s, and has retained links to terror groups associated with Osama bin Laden. Groups like the Algerian GIA and the Egyptian Islamic Society. Not so, he demurs, he is a modest and innocent man, working a low-paid service job, wanting only to find a place for himself in Canada.
Release him to my custody, pleaded his wife, and I will make surety, ensure that he scrupulously confines himself to the strictures imposed upon him, in my care. Nothing would be too difficult for us to do, to ensure he is home again with his family. So a compassionate justice system was convinced that, although he is seen to be a threat to the country, he would be discharged to his wife's care.
The strictures placed upon Mr. Harkat were stiffly demanding, the most difficult imposed upon any suspect released to home confinement. He had to be in the presence of his wife or his mother-in-law at all times, had to request permission to travel, video cameras were placed throughout his home to monitor his activities, and security agents would follow him outside the home.
Those, and many other difficult-to-live with impositions on his freedom; no computer or cell phone use, no communication with individuals not cleared by CSIS, among others. He is permitted, in the presence of his wife, to travel outside his home several times a week; he may attend mosque services, make doctor appointments, all while wearing an electronic monitoring device.
But, he is not imprisoned, while awaiting the final disposition of his case. He refuses to voluntarily remove himself from the country for return to his place of birth, claiming that his life would be forfeit if he returned to Algeria. He and his wife have made formal application for a loosening of the strictures that compromise the comfort of their lives.
Claiming that fear of deportation alone is sufficient to ensure that he comports himself to the satisfaction of judicial authorities. "My life is on the line if I am deported to Algeria, it's a nightmare, I look at it like an execution", he claimed. The judge to whom he has applied for some clemency of his bail conditions pointed out that a previous judge has concluded he has lied about his past.
"Why should I trust you?" asked the judge. In two hours of testimony Mr. Harkat described the excruciating loss of freedoms he and his wife have experienced because of his bail conditions, the "pressure" placed on them by the strictness of the bail. One of which is the issue of the single parking space in front of his townhouse. Which he cannot use, because federal agents who watch him, use it.
Federal Court Justice Simon Noel suggested that a security camera placed inside the townhouse garage would solve the problem; he could park his vehicle in the garage, and security agents could peruse his activities with the use of the camera. "Inside the garage?", repeated Mr. Harkat incredulously. "What's left, your honour, cameras in the bedroom?"
Mr. Harkat's mail is opened, his telephone lines are tapped by order of the court. To enable him, as entreated by him and his wife, to live outside of prison in the bosom of his family. This is a man facing a charge of terrorist-related offences against the country. It doesn't seem that he takes his position seriously, considering the charges against him.
The man, a suspected sleeper agent, allegedly a member of a terrorist organization outlawed by Canadian law, is granted the generosity of doubt, enabling him to live outside the prison system while awaiting final disposition of his case. Alice would feel quite comfortable in this scenario, believing herself to have slipped inside the looking glass again.
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, November 06, 2008
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