assem Hammoud, ringleader of the alleged terrorist plot to bomb tunnels in New York, may have done the free world an unintended favour. Hammoud, albeit unwittingly drew cleansing sunlight on a rarely reported fact of life: Montreal, Quebec, Canada is a hub of activity for al Qaida and other Islamist groups--and has been so since the early 1990s.
Mentioned only in passing in a Canadian Press (CP) report on terror suspect assem Hammoud, CP stated that Montreal is "a known hub of al Qaida activity dating back to the 1990s". (Terror plot suspect attended university in Montréal: official, Jim Bronskill and Bill Graveland, CP 08/07/06).
"Montreal is the leading centre for Islamist and Jihadists groups in North america, many inspired by or with ties to al Qaida," says Beryl Wajsman. "In total, with dozens of cells, Montreal has the largest number of such groups in any city in North america, not on a per capita basis but in gross numbers."
"Radical Muslim operatives go to ground in Montreal. They rest and recruit in Montreal and get their recreation here," says Wajsman, a Montreal resident.
The President of the Institute for Public affairs of Montreal, Wajsman, a regular canadafreepress.com columnist and popular public speaker, has a background in security and intelligence.
What is the appeal of Canada's second largest city for al Qaida?
"Islamists, al Qaida sympathizers, and terrorist fellow travelers view Montreal as being both intellectually and culturally open, accessible and exploitable," says Wajsman, "Montreal has a large diverse arab Muslim community whose members hail from many countries, speaking many languages and dialects, making their milieus natural hiding places."
"Canada's immigration controls are lax. Canada is a country that stopped funding port police. Only one in every 100 cargo shipments is ever inspected and Montreal is still the second largest inland port in North america,"
Given that al Qaida operatives feel so safe in the cosmopolitan city that they do their socializing there, one would think that the tourist-flocked city in La Belle Province would draw mega media attention.
But as the outspoken Wajsman points out, the mainstream media goes after only the easy stories.
In reporting on international terrorism, the mainstream media may have written about ahmed Ressam, the algerian-born bomb maker who tried to bomb the Los angeles airport on New Year's Eve, 1999. On-the-ball american customs officials captured Ressam when he tried to cross from Canada into the U.S. Ressam had spent time in Montreal. Little attention was paid to that salient point,
The mainstream media reported on Syrian-born Canadian Maher arar and his alleged ties to terror.
High-level Canadian and american officials claim to be "100 percent sure" arar trained with al Qaida in afghanistan". (CTV Dec. 30, 2003).
Then there's the mainstream media coverage on the Khadr family, which could fill a book. The late family patriarch ahmed Said Khadr, a lifelong close friend of Osama bin Laden, was set free from a Pakistani prison after direct intervention from former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Khadr. Implicated in a 1995 terrorist bombing of the Egyptian Embassy in Karachi, Pakistan has a son, Omar who is the only Canadian held at Guantanamo Bay and social activist family members living in the Toronto area to the present day.
(Canada made no such extraordinary efforts to free William Sampson from trumped-up charges in Saudi arabia.)
Mohammad atta, one of the 9/11 highjackers, had an apartment in Montreal.
But with the exception of CBS' 60 Minutes, the mainstream media has not reported on Montreal, the hub of al Qaida activity.
These are the facts unfolding on assem Hammoud from the mainstream media:
• "a Beirut-based television station also said Mr. Hammoud was recruited into al Qaida in 1994 while he was in Canada.
• "a source familiar with the case denied media reports that Mr., Hammoud, identified by the FBI as a central figure in the (alleged terrorist) scheme, held a valid Canadian passport.
• "The source told CP on Saturday that neither the 31-year-old Mr. Hammoud nor his parents are Canadian citizens–meaning that if he ever did travel on a Canadian passport, the document was a fake."
• "Nor has Foreign affairs received a request for assistance from Mr. Hammoud, as might be expected when a Canadian passport holder runs into trouble abroad."
• "He is not Canadian, therefore he is not entitled to a Canadian passport," said the source, who asked not to be named. "He has no legal ties to Canada."
• "Mr. Hammoud, also known as amir andalousi, took business-related courses at Concordia (University in Montreal), possibly from approximately 1993 to 1997, the official said."
(It should be noted that the name andalousi is a play on andalusia, which is the name al Qaida, and bin Laden in particular, references for the geographic area that includes most of Spain during the period of Islam's broadest political hegemony and which bin Laden and Iran's President Mahmoud ahmadinejad have unequivocally stated they want to restore).
• "The source confirmed that Mr. Hammoud, who taught economics at the Lebanese International University in Beirut, where he has been in custody since late april, may still have a girlfriend in Montreal."
• "another media report said Mr. Hammond has two brothers, one studying somewhere in Canada and another employed in the United arab Emirates."
Could it be that Foreign affairs did not receive a request for assistance from Mr. Hammoud "as might be expected when a Canadian passport holder runs into trouble abroad", because Mr. Hammoud already took everything he ever needed from Canada?
Meanwhile, when former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien said there were no terrorists in Canada, he was wrong.
There are plenty of terrorists in Canada, most of them in Montreal.
Beryl Wajsman is president of the Institute for Public affairs of Montreal; publisher of BaRRICaDES Magazine; and host of 940aM's "The Last angry Man". He can be reached at: letters@canadafreepress.com.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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