More terrorists to come: expert

Canada is a prime spot for terrorist fundraising and plotting attacks in foreign lands and domestically, says one terrorism expert.“Garage mosques are popping up in major Canadian cities and should be invigilated upon,” said Toronto-based Sarah Bokhari.“Islamist groups are working behind the scenes, if not in mosques, and targeting the moralistic emotions of young Muslims, thus creating pipelines for recruitment of jihadis.”Bokhari said offshoots of major international terrorist rings are nesting in Canada. “Al-Qaida groups, such as Al-Shahab have vowed to recruit western Muslim youth to wage holy war on infidels of the West,” said Bokhari, who has taught courses on politics of violence at Humber College in Toronto. “Al-Shahab is a Somali extreme Islamist group which is involved in radicalizing young minds and sending them to Somalia for jihadi training.”Bokhari says deterring homegrown fundamental terrorism involves more education in schools, colleges and universities about terrorism and religion.Bill Pitt, an Edmonton-based criminologist and former RCMP officer, is not surprised the terrorist suspect was caught in Edmonton’s “backyard.”“Canada is a springboard into the U.S.,” said Pitt, a criminology professor at Grant MacEwan University.“History seems to show where one terrorist is caught, there are more to come.”Pitt bases this theory on the Russian spies that have lived in Canada since the Cold War to recent times. “Their sole purpose is to raise funds in legitimate Muslim charities and this is a great place to do that.”Pitt describes terrorism as a “grey science because it is multilayered, multinational and global in scope, much like its adversaries.”
The terrorist charges against Faruq Khalil Muhammad Isa, 38, involved connections to a worldwide terrorist network.Pitt also credits the advances made in intelligence-gathering.
“Electronic transmissions through computers can easily be intercepted now,” said Pitt.
“Programs such as Carnivore can read your hard drive and are used extensively. These methods are far-reaching.”Pitt adds funding and purposeful investigations post-9-11 have foiled terrorist plots in North America.
“A concerted effort by the US, Canada, Pakistan and other countries is needed to uproot this menace,” said Bokhari.
“The terrorists are not looking for faroff lands. I believe it’s a matter of opportunity.”
mariam.bocari@sunmedia.ca