Friday, August 27, 2010

27-Aug-10: The tentacles of the terrorists

Suspected terrorist (left) in previous media appearance
Far from our borders this time, a couple of home truths about terrorism and terrorists.
They exist not only in remote countries but through globalization and the Internet, they have links in our country and all through the world...”  - Prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper.

“To hear how well organized they appeared to be, and connected internationally... is quite scary...”  - Anthony Seaboyer, head of proliferation security research at Queen’s University Centre for International Relations, Canada
The Canadians are right. The terror networks do have a global reach. All of us, along with our children, are in the cross-hairs of their religiously-inspired, barbaric plots.

The published comments come in the wake of arrests yesterday in Canada by the Royal Candian Mounted Police. Three home-grown terrorist suspects are charged with plotting to make and detonate improvised explosive devices as well as financing terror groups operating in Afghanistan. A full report is here. The targets of the terror plot, presumably located in Canada, have not yet been publicized - that information is to come out in court.

Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh, 30, and Misbahuddin Ahmed, 26, were arrested in Ottawa, and Khurram Syed Sher, 28, in London, Ont. The plot stretches back to Iran, Pakistan and Dubai - and no, we're not expecting the zealous legal enforcement authorities in Dubai to show quite the energy they displayed in a recent murder investigation with an Israel connection.

A McGill medical school graduate and resident, and pathologist in a hospital near London, Ontario, Sher has recently been studying pathology at Ontario's St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital. He attracted publicity by an appearance on Candian Idol, a television talent quest. He's likely to get more publicity now.

It's odd, to those of us who think in conventional terms, that some terrorists are doctors. And television personalities.

No comments: