EFL:
A handful of Ottawa Muslims were being questioned last night in what authorities described as an international terror probe that saw heavily-armed Mounties storm the home of one of the city's most prominent Muslims. At 1:30 p.m. yesterday, RCMP tactical units, acting on security intelligence briefs, fanned out across the city, arresting one young Muslim man and questioning several others. The raids followed a month-long RCMP surveillance operation targeting the Orleans home of Mahboob A. Khawaja, who is presently teaching at a university in Saudi Arabia.
Reached there last night, Mr. Khawaja said he was "extremely disturbed" by the raid.
| "Shit! Now I have to stay here in Saudi." |
| "They didn't look in my underwear drawer, did they? I have some... ummm... important personal papers in there!" |
The Mounties forced their way into his home, but their target was nowhere to be found. Instead, they found two of Mr. Khawaja's adult children. His wife, Azra, had gone out for some afternoon shopping and was picked up by police at a shopping centre. Later in the day, RCMP arrested a Muslim man linked to the house.
| Always seems to be a spare muslim guy in the guest bedroom. |
According to his friends, one of Mr. Khawaja's four sons was taken away yesterday by RCMP as he walked the hallways of the University of Ottawa, school books in hand. Mohsan Khawaja has not been charged with any crime and the RCMP would not say why they wanted to talk with the economics student. Qamar Masood, president of the Canada-Pakistan Association of the National Capital Region, arrived at the home last night. He says he later spoke with Mr. Khawaja's wife. "She said they think that they were making bombs or something of that nature. But she said, of course, that's impossible."
| "Tut tut! Certainly not!" |
Mr. Khawaja also said the police alleged that his children had been making bombs. So far, only one suspect has been arrested. He has yet to be named, let alone charged, although police expect to make a "major announcement" later this week.
| Oh goody, now where's my popcorn maker. |
Yesterday's raid has rattled Ottawa's tight-knit Muslim community, with many expressing fears of more arrests. Others hope that police suspicions are a misunderstanding. Mr. Khan said one of the Khawaja sons, Momin, worked for the federal government as a computer engineer. Mr. Khawaja has five children, four sons: Mohsan, Tanzeel, Momin and Qasim, and one daughter, Sabeen. His children were born and raised in Canada, while Mr. Khawaja teaches abroad. The family is respected within the Muslim community, and praised for their intelligence and volunteer work.
| "They're such good people" |
Mr. Khawaja, an academic who has authored several publications on conflict resolution, including a book, Muslims and the West: Quest for Change and Conflict Resolution, which was published in 2000. In the book, Mr. Khawaja argues for a better understanding of fundamentalism, noting that it is often laden with "negative connotations."
| Might have something to do with killing people and blowing stuff up. |
He wrote this about the invasion of Iraq: "American and specially-hired Brits -- Tony Blair's war protagonists -- do believe that it was a real war fought against Saddam Hussein (their former faithful client), and it ended in American victory and success even though the WMD hoax was a stage drama, nothing other than a planned deception and treachery to the collective conscience of humanity that demonstrated strong opposition against the American planned war."
| Wow, he could be writing for DPRK, or the NYT. |
Into the night, the RCMP could be seen scouring the house for clues. The house was cordoned off with police tape and is being treated as a crime scene.
| Canadian cops are very, very good at this. |
The RCMP approached neighbours about a month ago, asking for permission to use their property to stage around-the-clock surveillance from unmarked cars, parked in a driveway three doors down.
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