Stewart Bell National Post

Tuesday, November 05, 2002

TORONTO - A Hezbollah "special agent" who admitted to orchestrating terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians was caught in Toronto and deported following a struggle with police, according to federal war crimes officials.

When Toronto police officers tried to arrest the Hezbollah member on an immigration warrant, he grabbed at their guns but was subdued and later deported to Lebanon for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity.

Details of the case are the latest evidence that Hezbollah, a Lebanese terrorist group, has been using Canada as a safe haven for hiding out, raising money and buying military hardware needed for attacks against Israelis.

Last week, Israeli authorities revealed they had caught a Canadian Hezbollah agent who had been dispatched to Jerusalem to orchestrate attacks inside Israel. They claimed he had been active in Hezbollah while living in Canada.

The federal government has been on the defensive for the past few weeks over its refusal to outlaw Hezbollah, the self-proclaimed "Party of God," which uses terror tactics to promote a radical Islamic agenda in the Middle East.

The deported Lebanese agent, whose name was not released by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, arrived at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Sept. 30, 1998, carrying a forged Belgian passport and made a refugee claim.

"He claimed that he was a special agent in the Hezbollah involved in planning attacks on Israeli settlements," according to a summary of his case in a report released by the Immigration Department.

He later dropped his refugee claim and married a Canadian immigrant, but she was under-age and the marriage fell apart. After he failed to show up for an interview with immigration officials, a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was removed from Canada under escort on Nov. 26, 2000.

"People who we believe are, or have been, involved in crimes against humanity or terrorism are barred from Canada," Danielle Sarazin, an Immigration Department spokeswoman, said yesterday when asked about the case. "If they are discovered in Canada, we take action to remove them."

Meanwhile, federal court files show that scores of Lebanese have claimed refugee status in Canada on the basis they fear persecution by Hezbollah. One of them, Lebnan Hammoud, told refugee officials Hezbollah had tried to assassinate and later kidnap him for speaking against the group.

Jaafar Serhan, his wife, Rajaa Nadi, and their three sons claimed refugee status because of their "generalized fear of the Hezbollah, as well as the father's fear of forced recruitment by the Hezbollah," documents show.

Aissa El-Kachi also sought refugee status in Canada, saying Hezbollah had killed his daughter by firing a missile at his house and that he feared persecution at the hands of the group if he was forced to return to Lebanon.

While Canadian Jewish organizations want the government to ban Hezbollah under Canada's new counter-terrorism law, Bill Graham, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, says he does not want to outlaw the work of the organization's doctors, lawyers and social workers because that might hamper Canada's efforts to bring peace to the Middle East.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service says that, far from fostering peace, Hezbollah is devoted to wrecking any settlement between Israelis and Palestinians and wants to impose Islamic rule and remove Western influences from the region.

To further its campaign, Hezbollah has been using Canada as a base of operations.

The National Post reported last week that Hezbollah has been running major clandestine operations across Canada that have sought money, vehicles and equipment for an armed conflict with Israel.

In addition, the Post revealed that a captured Hezbollah agent had provided CSIS almost a decade ago with detailed inside information refuting Mr. Graham's contention that Hezbollah has distinct military and political wings.

In the House of Commons last week, the Liberals were pressed repeatedly by Canadian Alliance MPs, who accused the government of trying to convince Canadians "that Hezbollah kills thousands of people with its left hand and makes peace with its right."

Meanwhile, the government has seized the assets of a Muslim charity that was defended in the House of Commons last year by the Liberals, who said there was "not one shred of evidence" it was tied to terrorism.

Canadian banks were instructed to freeze all accounts of the Global Relief Foundation, a Chicago-based humanitarian organization with alleged ties to the international al-Qaeda financial network.

Financial records show the group may have indirectly benefited from Canadian tax dollars: The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) gave money to a Toronto aid group that in turn gave a grant to Global Relief.

The charity is one of the largest Arab humanitarian groups in the world. Its U.S. offices were raided on Dec. 14, the same day Rabih Haddad, the group's 41-year-old Lebanese co-founder, was arrested on a visa violation.

The government has now added Global Relief to its list of "terrorist entities" who are not permitted to conduct financial transactions in Canada.

The official notice sent to Canadian banks specifically names Global Relief offices in Illinois, France, Belgium, Bosnia, Kosovo, Albania, Pakistan, Turkey and "other foreign locations: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Chechnya (Russia), China, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Ingushetia (Russia), Iraq, Jordan, Kashmir, Lebanon, West Bank and Gaza, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Syria."

The U.S. Treasury froze Global Relief's assets more than a year ago. Canada's move came after the United Nations imposed sanctions on the group on Oct. 22. The charity denies any terror ties and is suing the U.S. government.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2002