The Host Country
Here is Canada, having been alerted of the presence of another undesirable on our shores, holding that person, as requested, by the French policing authorities. Who have re-opened a 28-year-old case of terrorism, procured new information and evidence to strengthen a case which had originally not been investigated with the thoroughness it deserved, and identified a Canadian of Lebanese origin as the major malefactor in the bombing of a Paris synagogue.There had been a prior warning that French authorities were building a case against this man. A year ago Canada was contacted by the Directorate of Territorial Surveillance in France that it was in possession of "clear information" that clarified Hassan Naim Diab's role in the bombing that killed three Frenchmen and an Israeli woman, injured many others, and destroyed part of the synagogue on rue Copernicus.
The world, at that time, was yet innocent of that kind of violence directed against Jews in the diaspora; clear warning that terror groups from the Middle East were reaching out to target Jews elsewhere in the world, in their ongoing grievance with Israel's position in a geography that was claimed wholly by Arabs and Muslims solely for Muslims, in honour of Islam; where land once consecrated to Allah must never be defiled through occupation of a Jewish State.
Mr. Diab, who has worked for many years in various places throughout the world, and more latterly in Canada, as a part-time university lecturer, has been aware for the past year that his activities have been closely monitored, that he has been followed by some mysterious agents that he took to be French police, but who were in reality members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, working with the French.
The cold case whose files were left to moulder, was re-opened during this new regime under Nicolas Sarkozy, and police began the deliberate and tedious process of re-interviewing witnesses, procuring and interpreting new evidence. A police drawing of the terror suspect had linked Mr. Diab to the event originally, when a fellow member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine had attested to a remarkable resemblance.
Handwriting experts had confirmed that the person who had signed for the purchase of a Suzuki motorcycle whose saddlebags had been stuffed with explosives used to blow up the synagogue, appeared to match the later handwriting of Mr. Diab. His passport has been identified as having been used for entry into France around the same time as the occurrence of the synagogue bombing in 1980.
Moreover, it's an additional fairly firm suspicion that Mr. Diab was also implicated in the bombing of another synagogue, a year later, in Antwerp, Belgium. There are countless interwoven connections and leads to other members of the PFLP's special forces, active elsewhere in the world and throughout the Middle East, that further identify Mr. Diab as being fully implicated.
As a member of a terrorist group, as a serial bomber, who later sought a 'normal' life for himself, outside the Middle East this man echoes the actions of many who attempt to escape their past. His chequered career included interludes in Italy and Spain and elsewhere in the world, where he would teach in various universities for periods of time. His travels took him throughout Europe, the Middle East, and North America.
Now, at age 55, after living quietly in Ottawa for many years, and picking up teaching contracts at both University of Ottawa and Carleton University for a semester or two throughout the university year, he stands accused of terrorism, and of murder. This part-time professor of - what else? - sociology is being held by Canadian authorities for extradition to France.
He claims, as does his lawyer, that he is a victim of error, wrongly identified as being involved in events he had nothing to do with. That he was never a member of the PFLP, that he is completely innocent of the charges being assembled against him. He speaks aggrievedly of the intimidation to which he has been submitted over the course of the last year.
Who better, one might think, to teach sociology than someone with the diversified and fascinating background exemplified by Mr. Diab's life story? His insight into peoples' characters, their choices in life, the actions they choose to undertake in defence of an emotion-laden cause that squeezes caution, compassion, justice and lawfulness out of mind, might present as an interesting case study.
He might just put his mind to it, post-trial, if found guilty and sentenced to a long stay-over in prison. Certainly, the people with whom he worked most latterly and who had found him to be a modest, interesting, knowledgeable man of integrity, would constitute a fascinated reading audience.
Labels: Canada, Justice, Terrorism
posted by Pieface @ Friday, November 21, 2008
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