Almeri no threat

A security advisor testified that the Syrian refugee who has spent seven years behind the bars on a Canadian security certificate would not pose much threat to the society if released under supervision.

A security advisor testified that the Syrian refugee who has spent seven years behind the bars on a Canadian security certificate would not pose much threat to the society if released under supervision.

Tom Quiggin, who is a Canadian expert of jihadis, told Federal Court judge Richard Mosley that he personally feels that if the suspected jihidist Hassan Almeri were released then he does not poses much of a threat.

Quiggin said at the detention review hearing of Almeri that he does not feel that there is any risk for the simple reason that Almeri doesn’t threaten him.

Post 9/11, Almeri was Canada’s first arrest on a national security certificate, which is a statue under immigration law rather than the criminal code. He is one of the five faced with deportation but is the only one behind the bars as he is a bachelor with no relatives in Canada to give an undertaking for him.

Although the government does not allege that Almeri is an Al Qaeda member, but believe that the pedigree he earned as an Afghan fighter has resulted him being an icon among other fundamentalist.

Quiggin said that Almeri is just a small fish as he is a ‘mere foot soldier without any advanced training’.

Lawyers of another suspect, Mohamed Harkat, said that in order to ease his bail conditions, they have worked out an agreement. They said that Harkat will be able to move out with his wife from a basement flat to the house of his mother-in-law. Harkat, a former Ottawa pizza deliveryman, is fighting deportation as a suspected Al-Qaeda agent.

Harkat must wear a GPS ankle bracelet and has surveillance cameras in his home. His males are intercepted and phones tapped with his supervised outings limited to just three a week.

Harkat’s wife Sophie complained yesterday that for two and half years, she has been a full-time jailor for her husband and that all their rights have been violated.

Meanwhile, Quiggin said during Almeri’s hearing that he had previously testified against the releases of other terror suspects. But after examining Almeri’s report and questioning him, the RCMP advisor and former Canadian Forces intelligence officer said that he does not think that Almeri would become involved in any terrorist plots after his release.

He said that if released, it would be very difficult for Almeri to contact other jihadists under surveillance.