RCMP make arrests for 'terrorist offence' in Ottawa
CBC News
Police investigate a house on Esterlawn Private, a street in the Carlingwood area of Ottawa. The RCMP say they have made two arrests related to 'terrorist offences.' (Lorian Belanger/CBC)The RCMP say they have arrested two Ottawa residents and expect to make more arrests for what they describe as "terrorist offences."
The RCMP's national security enforcement team arrested the pair early Wednesday morning, and search warrants are being executed, the Mounties said in a news release.
No charges have yet been laid.
Police sources told the CBC that two men were arrested at separate locations.
There were two raids, one at a residence at 91 Esterlawn Private near the intersection of Carling and Woodroffe avenues in the Carlingwood area, and a second at a highrise on Woodridge Crescent southwest of Esterlawn Private.
The two people were arrested in connection with plans that were in the developing stages and had yet to be executed, police sources told the CBC.
No further details were provided. Charges are expected to be announced at a news conference scheduled for Thursday afternoon, police sources said.
Neighbours said a quiet couple of Middle Eastern descent lived in the Esterlawn townhouse with a small child or possibly two children, the CBC's Simon Gardner reported.
Police arrived at the home at about 6:45 a.m. A neighbour said policewomen took the child or children during the raid, as two fully veiled women watched.
A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews wouldn't comment on the investigation but issued a statement saying Canada remains "vigilant in protecting against threats."
"As Minister Toews has said, it is clear that Canada is not immune from international or homegrown radicalization," spokesman Chris McCluskey said.
The Muslim Canadian Congress issued a statement commending the RCMP for arresting the suspects before they could carry out their plan, and hoped the accused would be tried with due process.
With files from the CBC's Alison Crawford
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/08/25/ottawa-rcmp-arrests.html#ixzz0yNiv9KFs
When The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), in cooperation with the Dept. of National Defence and the Government of Canada, reconvenes the Halifax International Security Forum (HISF) at the Westin Hotel in Halifax, Nov. 5-7, the Halifax Peace Coalition (HPC) will be there to tell them they're not welcome in Canada.
By bringing together leading policy and opinion makers and militarists from around the world, the GMF says the Security Forum will help shape a new transatlantic security agenda that can adapt to changing global realities and emerging threats.
This year's Security Forum is particularly important as it takes place less than two weeks prior to and as a lead-up to the NATO summit of heads of state, to be held Nov. 19 to 20 in Lisbon. Following a year-long series of discussions and conferences NATO's new strategic concept will be submitted for approval.
Confirmed speakers and participants at the HISF include: Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, Canada; Liam Fox, Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom; Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, United States; Ehud Barak, Minister of Defence, Israel; Condoleezza Rice, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University, United States; a U.S. Congressional delegation co-chaired by Senators John McCain and Mark Udall; and Stephane Abrial, NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation.
Tamara Lorincz, a spokesperson for HPC said Canada claims to be a defender of human rights and the rule of law so it shouldn't be including Condoleezza Rice and Ehud Barak in its list of invitees because they're war criminals.
“There's ample evidence to show that she (Ms. Rice) fabricated evidence to create a false basis for the war in Iraq. She also authorized extraordinary rendition and torture. The US is a party to the Convention Against Torture.”
The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, says, "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for torture."
Ms. Lorincz said that not only should Ms. Rice not be welcomed to Canada, she should not be teaching political science at Stanford University.
“Marjorie Cohn, President of the National Lawyers' Guild has appealed to the University of Stanford to have Ms. Rice removed from her teaching position at the university.”
Indeed, in May 2009, Ms. Cohn nailed a petition to the Stanford University President's door stating that the university should not have war criminals on its faculty. The petition read in part: “There is prima facie evidence that Rice approved torture and misled the country into the Iraq War. Stanford has an obligation to investigate those charges.”
Subsequently, in a written article, Ms. Cohn elaborated on her position.
“After the petition nailing, I cited the law and evidence of Condoleezza Rice’s responsibility for war crimes - including torture - and for selling the illegal Iraq War: National Security Advisor, Rice authorized waterboarding in July 2002, according to a newly released report of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Less than two months later, she hyped the impending U.S. invasion of Iraq, saying, 'We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.' “
Meanwhile, Ms. Lorincz said Mr. Barak, Israeli Defence Minister during the bombing of Gaza in 2008-2009, is responsible for over 1,000 civilian deaths. Moreover, she said Ms. Rice, Mr. Barak and other HISF speakers such as Senator John McCain, are not security experts and, consequently, they have nothing to say about security.
She said the GMF is really just a front for NATO, which is undermining the United Nations and international rule of law.
“It's (NATO) not a law-making body. International conflicts should be dealt with through the UN. NATO is dominated and dictated to by the US. It's not a reflection of the will of the Canadian public. While the Canadian public wants out of Afghanistan, NATO is pressuring Canada to increase the money contributes to NATO.”
She added that Canada lost its bid for a seat on the UN Security Council because it allowed its foreign policy to be dominated by NATO; and the rest of the world has long been aware that the US dominates and dictates to NATO, and has since its inception.
Last year -the first time the GMF met in Halifax – saw anti-war activists, youth, student and women's groups, and trade unionists voicing strong opposition to NATO, the war in Afghanistan and the presence of militarists in Halifax.
Ms. Lorincz said the HPC will be holding rallies this year on November 5, 6 and 7 to protest the (HISF).
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