The new evidence was used this week by Canadian officials to press their case that Mahmoud Jaballah, the founder of a Muslim elementary school in Toronto, should be branded an international terrorist and extradited to Egypt. There, he could face charges that he was a member of Al Jihad, a radical terrorist group that was formerly headed by bin Laden’s elusive second-in-command, Ayman Al Zawahiri.
Canadian officials have been seeking for almost four years to expel Jaballah, contending that he is a dangerous “threat to national security” and has ties to a group of Toronto-based Muslims who are suspected “sleeper agents” in the bin Laden network.
But the 39-year-old Jaballah, a father of six, is vigorously resisting Canada’s efforts to send him back to Egypt. He sat with his hands clasped through much of this week’s hearing here in Toronto, which was initiated under a Canadian law authorizing the deportation of individuals deemed national security risks. Jaballah’s lawyer, Rocco Galati, told NEWSWEEK that the charges against his client amounted to “guilt by association” and the government’s evidence was “fertilizer.” A female relative of Jaballah’s, who sat with his children in the courtroom but declined to identify herself, added: “He’s a good person, he’s a dedicated family man.”
The deportation proceeding against Jaballah is being viewed as a test case in the Canadian government’s efforts to crack down on what is believed to be a thriving terrorist network in its midst. U.S. officials fear that bin Laden’s network and other terrorist groups have sought to take advantage of the porous border with the U.S. by planting agents in Canada–a concern that was dramatically reinforced two years ago when Ahmed Ressam, a bin Laden operative from Algeria who had moved to Canada, was caught trying to cross the border with a homemade bomb destined for Los Angeles. (Mourad Ikhlef, an alleged associate of Ressam’s in Montreal, was arrested as a potential security risk this week. He’s now in jail, also awaiting a deportation hearing like Jaballah’s.)
But cases such as the Canadian one against Jaballah also pose evidentiary obstacles and are laced with hard-to-evaluate, circumstantial allegations from secret sources that may or may not be significant. After viewing the classified evidence, Justice Andrew MacKay of the Federal Court of Canada will determine whether it is “reasonable” enough to support Jaballah’s deportation. The decision is expected early next year.
The single most damaging testimony against Jaballah this week came from a Canadian Security Intelligence Service agent identified only as “Mike,” who took the stand to allege that Jaballah had once met with Ayman Al-Zawahiri, bin Laden’s No. two, in Yemen around 1995. Agent “Mike” explained nothing more about the meeting, including what was discussed, where it took place, and how the CSIS knows about it.
“Mike,” was stoic in his replies to Galati’s heated questions. “I would really love to dump all the evidence on the table for you,” said Mike. But, he added, he couldn’t because the case involved “national security.” Nevertheless, some of the evidence the government has presented against Jaballah appears damaging. According to Canadian prosecutors, Jaballah has been identified through fingerprints as having used an alias. His other name, they say, is Mahmoud Said, an Egyptian member of Al Jihad wanted for document forging, bomb-making and other terrorist activities.
As presented by “Mike” and in Canadian documents, Jaballah, (or Mahmoud Said) was a student at the University of Zagazig in Cairo, an oft-described “breeding ground” for terrorists where he joined Al Jihad. The group, formed in 1973, later claimed responsibility for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat. Jaballah, according to prosecutors, quickly ascended the ranks–and his alleged involvement in attempts to overthrow the Egyptian government got him arrested seven times.
Claiming persecution and torture by Egyptian authorities, in 1991 Jaballah moved his family to Pakistan,where he became a science teacher with the International Islamic Relief Organization, a global charity used by bin Laden to finance his operations.
Jaballah moved to Canada in 1996, and his ties to Islamic Relief were subject to extensive questioning when Canada first tried to deport him in 1999 for suspected involvement with Al Jihad. Jaballah has denied the connection. According to court records, Jaballah told the judge: “The first time I heard the name Osama bin Laden was when the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were blown up.” Bolstered by witnesses like Aly Hindy, the imam of Toronto’s Salaheddin Islamic Centre, the government lost its case.
But Canadian CSIS officials insist that Jaballah’s real connections to bin Laden’s network are much more extensive. “We do have evidence linking Mr. Jaballah to senior members of Al Qaeda,” testified “Mike,” apparently referring at least in part to the alleged meeting in Yemen with Al-Zawahiri. Canadian officials have also pointed to Jaballah’s own admissions in his 1999 court testimony to having contacts with Adil Abd al Bari and Ibrahim Eidarous, two Islamic radicals in London who are members of Al Jihad and who have circulated statements claiming responsibility on behalf of the group for the August, 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Al Bari and Eidarous have both claimed they were acting as public relations men passing along statements to the press made by others in the group. But U.S. officials have since indicted both Al Bari and Eidarous as co-conspirators in the embassy bombing case, contending they actually faxed the claims of responsibility before the bombings even took place. They are currently under arrest in Britain and fighting extradition to the United States to face trial for their alleged role in the attacks.
