A former Canadian resident is a key commander and ideologue with Ansar al-Islam, a group the United States considers to be the terrorist link between Al Qaeda and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, says a captured Ansar member. In a prison cell interview yesterday, 18-year-old Osman Ali named the Canadian as Abdul Jaber, also known as Abu Ossama. Ali said Jaber and his family left Canada after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. He travelled to northeastern Iraq, where he joined Ansar al-Islam, which runs a Taliban-style regime from its mountain stronghold near the border with Iran. “He said he left Canada because the police accused him of being a member of Al Qaeda,” said Ali, adding he was part of an Ansar suicide-bomb cell that Jaber commanded. If Ali’s story is confirmed, it raises further questions about the extent of extremist activity in Canada. Such questions were first raised in December, 1999, with the arrest in Seattle of former Montreal resident Ahmed Ressam after crossing into the United States with a car full of explosives. The Algerian was convicted in 2001 of plotting bomb attacks during the millennium celebrations. Full Story
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