Silliness...any convert to Islam is a very likely terror suspect. Bruce Convert from Hinduism an unlikely terror suspect CSIS flags trend of those in crisis turning to radical Islam
Tom Blackwell and Stewart Bell National Post Wednesday, June 07, 2006 TORONTO - Prosecutors are accusing him of wanting to behead the prime minister, but Steven Chand seems like an unlikely recruit into an al-Qaeda-inspired extremist group. Also known as Abdul Shakur, Mr. Chand is a Sri Lankan who was raised a Hindu. He converted to Islam under the influence of friends with whom he played basketball, according to one imam. Aly Hindy, imam at the Salaheddin Islamic Centre, said he recalled little of Mr. Chand but believes he converted the 25-year-old at the request of some young Muslim friends of the suspect. "He met some youths and they bring me every week some people [saying]: 'OK, they want to convert to Islam.' They asked me to talk to him, just to give him the basic principles, things like that," Mr. Hindy said. Details of Mr. Chand's journey into the embrace of a new religion and, allegedly, a radical terror network intent on killing Canadians, remain sketchy. But the arrests come as counterterrorism officials are reporting that a growing number of Canadians are converting to the extremist brand of Islam. A "secret" Canadian Security Intelligence Service study calls radical converts "a phenomenon of increasing concern to Western governments. "It is possible that an attack will be carried out by a radicalized individual -- possibly a convert to radical Islam -- seeking to punish Canada for its actions abroad," it says. Canadian intelligence agencies have been reporting since 2004 that terrorist groups are actively seeking converts, a "small number" of whom are adopting extremist ideology. "Al-Qaeda and like-minded organizations are aware of the usefulness of converts for a variety of purposes: spreading propaganda, logistical support and knowledge of the West, among other," says a Canadian intelligence report. In Europe, for example, a female Belgian convert was sent to Iraq as a suicide bomber. Recruiters have also been "talent spotting" in prisons, looking for potential converts who could be useful as terrorists. "As the fight against terrorism continues, converts could play a greater role -- including operational activities. These converts will be more difficult to monitor given their Western birth, heritage or familiarity." Another "secret" intelligence report released last year, titled "Canadian Converts to Radical Islam," says those drawn to Islam's radical extreme are often going through a time of personal or spiritual crisis. Involvement in terrorist activity "is, for some, part of a process of spiritual fulfillment," another document says. Gary Batasar, Mr. Chand's lawyer, said yesterday prosecutors are accusing his client of being part of plot to storm the Parliament buildings, and of personally wanting to "behead" the prime minister. By the time of his arrest, he had adopted all the outward trappings of a devout Muslim man. As he bicycled to his job at a shawarma shop from his apartment in suburban Scarborough, Ont., he sported a long, traditional-looking beard, said neighbour Ed LeBlanc. Mohammad Attique, the landlord and Mr. LeBlanc's next-door neighbour, said Mr. Chand responded to a notice he had placed in his mosque for tenants. He said he found it hard to believe the allegations against his boarder. "We've never seen anything with him wrong or unusual. He's going to work, coming here, nothing else," said Mr. Attique, who runs an Islamic book publishing and distribution company. "How is [the allegation of terrorist activity] possible? He's not so sharp, not an educated and qualified guy. God knows." Mr. Attique said he has not seen another tenant, who had been brought to the home by Mr. Chand, since the terror arrests. "Where he is, I don't know." 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