Intelligence

Dossier reveals secrets of forming Al Qaeda cell

TheStar.com - Dossier reveals secrets of forming Al Qaeda cell

`Millennium bomber' to be sentenced

Mission was to blast the L.A. airport

MICHELLE SHEPHARD
STAFF REPORTER

U.S. court documents prepared for the sentencing of "millennium bomber" Ahmed Ressam provide a rare glimpse of how security agents gather intelligence, and details of how a Canadian Al Qaeda cell is formed.

They describe how the former Montreal resident told international investigators, including members of the RCMP and CSIS, the secrets of Al Qaeda, including codes used to disguise phone numbers, how safe houses are changed every six months to avoid detection and the quest by Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant to obtain Canadian passports.

For 205 hours, starting just after his April, 2001, conviction on terrorism charges, 37-year-old Ressam co-operated with authorities. But then he stopped last year, which breaches the agreement he made in the hopes of receiving a lenient sentence, the U.S. government claims in court records.

Terrorism charges against two suspected Al Qaeda members — one currently detained in Vancouver, B.C., and the other in Britain — are now expected to be withdrawn since the cases relied heavily on Ressam's testimony.

Samir Ait Mohamed, an alleged member of Ressam's Montreal cell who has been held in Vancouver since 2001 as he fights his extradition to the United States to face terrorism charges, is described in these documents as having a "relationship with someone in movement in Algeria," and wanting to set up his own training camp.

Ressam also told investigators, the documents state, that Mohamed gave him the gun found in his Montreal apartment and was interested in learning about explosives.

According to court documents, Ressam described other men, who had trained in Afghanistan and were supposed to be part of the Montreal cell, but could not get into Canada. And he detailed the "names of people involved in recruiting in Canada."

On Wednesday, a Seattle, Wa., judge must sentence Ressam, taking into account the wealth of intelligence he provided to American agencies and others around the world, with the need to punish him for his crimes and decision to cease co-operation.

The most recent court documents, filed by U.S. government lawyers, explain what information Ressam provided for the judge's consideration in sentencing.

His lawyers are asking for a sentence of 12 years saying he has put his life at risk, provided incredible knowledge that has led to arrests and convictions and that the initial deal was made before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Government lawyers have suggested 35 years.

Ressam has been in protective custody since his Dec. 14, 1999, arrest at a port in Seattle where he was driving a rented car packed with explosives he brought from Canada. Ressam later admitted to training in an Al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan and being a member of a Montreal cell of Algerian GIA extremists, court documents state. His mission was to bomb the Los Angeles airport on the eve of the millennium.

While Ressam was part of bin Laden's plan to fight the United States and he received training at the Al Qaeda camp, his plan may not have been officially sanctioned.

April 25, 2005 at 07:50 AM in Al Qaeda | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home