“Canadians training in Waziristan” story busted

Remember this?

…. Well-placed Taliban sources say that a group of Canadian militants is receiving jihadi training in al-Qaeda camps in North Waziristan for terror attacks in Canada, whose troops are a part of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan …. The sources gave the names of some of the Canadians undergoing training. These could not be independently verified and include: Jeam Paull (local name Sadiq Ullah), Leman Langlois (Sana Ullah), James Richard (Abdur Rehman), Otto Paul (Abu Usman), Thomas (Abdullah) and Paul Gall (Hafiz Ullah) ….

Well, here we get the REST of the story, some from one of the people named in the Asia Times piece:

…. I’m the only person in the world with the name “Leman-Langlois”. It is NOT a common name. Interestingly, I’m a terrorism EXPERT not a terrorist (google it).  Given the context, I surmise that the « Jeam Paull » mentioned is Jean-Paul Brodeur, my mentor and long time collaborator. He died last April. Right here in Quebec.  The other names are fanciful as well. Jean-Paul and I wrote many papers, book chapters, and a book about terrorism. In one we mention former ministers Otto Jelinek and Paul Martin, likely the Otto Paul of the report. « James Richard » sounds like James Richard Cross, former British diplomat kidnapped by the FLQ in 1970, also one of our topics …. Paul Gill (not Gall) is an expert in suicide bombing at University College Dublin ….

… and a bit more here, and a bit more from CBC’s “The National”.

It wouldn’t be the first time the Taliban’s Info-machine had spelling issues.

I think that closes the file on this one.

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – 15 Jan 11

• Remember these guys Asian media sources say are training in Waziristan for attacks back in Canada? The Mounties say they’re looking into the report – more here and here.
• Tough love, CF style, in Afghanistan. “Months of sometimes tough and bloody fighting by Canadian, U.S. and Afghan forces over the summer and fall weren’t enough to pacify a village that remains a refuge for insurgents in southern Afghanistan.  That’s when the Canadians, with plenty of cash for “icebreaker” projects designed to get young men more interested in jobs than war, decided to just bypass Nakhonay and fund a flood of development projects for its closest neighbours.  Canada’s soldiers have taken on a newer, tough-love approach as two deadlines loom — their summer pullout from Kandahar, and, preceding that, the traditional spring start of another insurgent fighting season ….”
• We’re hearing some new messaging out of Jack Layton this week about his opposition to Canada’s coming mission in Afghanistan.  1)  Anyone Canada trains could end up on the bad guys side (more in same vein here).  2)  Why help a corrupt good guy? 3)  Even if we start training Afghan security forces, we’ll get incrementally sucked back into a combat role. Text to his Thursday speech here and his Friday speech here.
• How one recovering Canadian soldier uses music as therapy.
• “F-35 is Great – No It’s Not” Update (1): Canadian PM sells F-35 benefits at Montreal aerospace company visit – more here, here, here, here and here.
• “F-35 is Great – No It’s Not” Update (2):  Le Devior says Quebec won’t get its fair share of the contracts – original in French here, Google translation here.
• Speaking of aircraft, the PM calls a new deal with a company to maintain Canada’s Griffon helicopters “great news for Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Limited workers in Calgary, Mirabel”.
• “Previously secret documents released in the Mohamed Harkat terrorism case reveal that the judge wrestled in closed court with how to gauge the credibility of spy agency informants. Harkat, 42, has been declared a security threat and faces deportation to his native Algeria, where he says he will be tortured or killed. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) relied on at least two “human sources” in building its case against Harkat, a former Ottawa pizza delivery man. One of the sources failed a lie-detector test in 2002, a fact that was not disclosed in court until May 2009. Judge Simon Noel ultimately decided that the source’s information could only be relied upon if corroborated. Another CSIS source was deemed sincere and reliable after Noel reviewed his file. Noel relied on the source’s information in concluding last month that Harkat was a member of the Osama bin Laden terrorist network. He said Harkat remains a threat to national security ….” More from the Federal Court of Canada here, here and here (all PDFs).
• “The union representing thousands of national defence workers has launched an online campaign urging the government to reconsider outsourcing 91 national security jobs, a transfer current employees say would put the country’s safety at risk. As of Friday, each time anyone searches the names of certain government officials using Google — including that of Defence Minister Peter MacKay — a sponsored ad appears, pointing to Securityforsale.ca, said John MacLennan, national president of the Union of National Defence Employees. The ads and website are part of the “first phase” of a campaign aimed at grabbing the government’s attention and warning Canadians of a plan to outsource dozens of jobs at Communications Security Establishment Canada, the low-key federal agency responsible for monitoring foreign signals and military intelligence, MacLennan said ….”

Canadians training in Waziristan for attacks back home?

This from Asia Times Online (not confirmed elsewhere at this point):

…. Well-placed Taliban sources say that a group of Canadian militants is receiving jihadi training in al-Qaeda camps in North Waziristan for terror attacks in Canada, whose troops are a part of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

Arif Wazir, a local militant of Darpakhel in North Waziristan told Asia Times Online, “In the first stage of their journey, the Canadians went to Afghanistan in February 2010; there were 12 of them. After nine months, al-Qaeda’s leaders decided to send them to North Waziristan and they reached Darpakhel in November last year.

“In Afghanistan they received basic jihadi training, while currently they are busy doing some special courses. Their main learning is how to use sophisticated weapons, and how to connect with local smuggling networks in North America. They are also learning how to use ordinary material like sugar and basic chemicals to make powerful explosives. These militants will then return to their country to execute al-Qaeda’s plan of targeting big cities in Canada,” the militant said.

According to available information, the Canadians joined the Egyptian militant organization Jihad al-Islami (JAI), which then helped them reach Afghanistan. The head of the group goes by the alias of Abu Shahid. The 30-year-old, who sports a golden beard, converted to Islam in 2007 and joined the JAI, with which he works to collect funds for the organization. Shahid is responsible for all of the activities of the Canadians in North Waziristan. According to Taliban sources, the 12 will remain in the tribal belt until it is felt that they are sufficiently trained to successfully carry out terror activities in Canada. Shahid apparently is confident he can recruit more Canadians.

The sources gave the names of some of the Canadians undergoing training. These could not be independently verified and include: Jeam Paull (local name Sadiq Ullah), Leman Langlois (Sana Ullah), James Richard (Abdur Rehman), Otto Paul (Abu Usman), Thomas (Abdullah) and Paul Gall (Hafiz Ullah) ….

(PDF of screen capture here if link doesn’t work)