Are suspected terrorists in the “Toronto 18” the same as members of the “Toronto 1

In an effort to provide them a fair trial, the Canadian government is seeking a limited publication ban on the identities of the adults charged with belonging to the so-called “Toronto 18” group. The identity of the youth charged with belonging to a homegrown terror cell is already protected under the Young Criminal Justice Act. The trial for the youth gets underway in a Brampton court today. Almost unheard of since they were nabbed in a foiled undercover operation to kidnap and behead members of Parliament, among other things on June 2, 2006, some of the suspected terrorists are alleged to have attended a terrorist training camp in a wooded area in Washago, near Gravenhurst. The so-called Toronto-18 is not the first group of suspected terrorists to have fallen off the public radar screen.

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The final fate of “Toronto 19” members was explored in former Congressman Curt Weldon’s book, Countdown to Terror. “Most of the Toronto 19 were from, or had connections to, Pakistan’s Punjab province noted for Sunni extremism, and had studied at the same madras, a school notorious for teaching militant Islam,” Weldon told Canada Free Press (CFP) in March of 2006. All were in Canada illegally, on fake student visas obtained with phony documents allegedly from the Ottawa Business College, an alleged front operation supporting illegal immigration into Canada, said Weldon. All entered Canada before September 11, 2001, the last just six days before al Qaeda’s attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. “Like the September 11 terrorists, the “Toronto 19” lived together in groups, kept to themselves, did not attend classes, pursued no other occupations, and lacked visible means of support. Yet, with no identifiable source of income, one of them had over $40,000 in the bank. “One member of the “Toronto 19” was associated with the Global Relief Organization, identified by the FBI and the United Nations as a terrorist front operation that raises funds for al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. “The fire department made repeated emergency calls to one of the apartments used by the group, where it is suspected they were mixing and testing explosives, similar to a terrorist cell discovered in England, which was caught because of their repeated apartment fires. “Members of the “Toronto 19” traveled from Canada to the United States, apparently to reconnoiter targets. Members of the group collected schematics of airliners, firearms and important buildings. “Members of the “Toronto 19” were highly curious about nuclear matters. They cultivated associates known to have access to nuclear gauges and are suspected of stealing a nuclear gauge in Toronto. These devices, commonly used in construction, contain a small amount of radioactive cesium-137, a potential ingredient for a “dirty bomb”. “Two members of the “Toronto 19” were arrested for trying to penetrate the perimeter of the Pickering Nuclear Reactor at 4:00 in the morning. They claimed they wanted to walk on the beach,” Weldon wrote in Countdown to Terror. “One member of the group was training to get a commercial pilot’s license for multi-engine jets, and practiced flying over the Pickering Nuclear Reactor. “All of the evidence linking the “Toronto 19” to terrorism—three van-loads of documents and 30 computers seized from the group by the Public Security and Anti-Terrorism investigators—may never be publicly disclosed. Canada elected to deport most of the “Toronto 19” as illegal immigrants, rather than prosecute them as terrorists.” For the so-called Toronto 18, a lawyer will represent several media outlets in a bid to block a ban in Brampton court today. “The whole course of this prosecution has essentially been secret since the arrest and this application threatens to continue that veil of secrecy,” said Paul Schabas, a lawyer who will represent several media outlets in a bid to block the ban.” (Toronto Star, March 25, 2008). Even if the lawyers succeed today to block the ban, it could be months, perhaps years, before the trials of the Toronto 18 begin. Meanwhile, there appear to be a lot of similarities between the “Toronto 18” and the Toronto 19 suspected terrorists.