Canadian Arrested in U.S. Linked To 9/11 Suspect

December 12, 2003
Stewart Bell
National Post

TORONTO - A Canadian suspected of associating with al-Qaeda has been arrested in Minneapolis and is being held because he is believed to have important information about accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui.

Mohammed Abdullah Warsama, 30, was taken into custody on Tuesday after a lengthy investigation by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

He is being detained under tight security and secrecy.

Reynald Doiron, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said yesterday Ottawa is aware of the arrest, adding the man had requested help from the Canadian government.

"We have been notified by the U.S., and the Canadian Consulate in Minneapolis is arranging, as we speak, to obtain consular access, and no other information is available at this time."

Mr. Warsama was born in Somalia in 1973 but came to Canada as a refugee in 1991. He is suspected of having information that supports terror allegations against Mr. Moussaoui, the suspected "20th hijacker" in the 9/11 attacks. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that, according to U.S. law enforcement officials, the man is familiar with Mr. Moussaoui's activities at an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan several years ago.

The name of the arrested man has not been released by U.S. authorities, but the National Post has learned he is Mr. Warsama, a naturalized Canadian from Toronto who has been living in the United States since 2001. He is the latest Canadian citizen to be arrested abroad on a terrorist-related matter. Israeli officials disclosed last week they had captured a Palestinian-Canadian they say was recruited and trained by Hamas to carry out sniper and bomb attacks in North America.

The Minneapolis case has been sealed by a U.S. judge and Mr. Warsama appeared in federal court behind closed doors, prompting complaints from civil rights advocates. "I can make no comment at all," said Dan Scott, the public defender said to be representing Mr. Warsama.

But officials said Mr. Warsama had not been charged and that he was being held as a material witness. He may be transferred to the Eastern seaboard, where Mr. Moussaoui is on trial for conspiracy.

Mr. Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, is the only person facing charges in the United States in connection with the attacks of Sept. 11. Prosecutors allege he was part of the conspiracy that led to the World Trade Center attacks. He was arrested in Minnesota on Aug. 16, 2001, after a flight school told police he was training to fly a Boeing 747 but showed no interest inlearning how to land.

He received money from Ramzi bin al-Shibh, the leader of the Hamburg al-Qaeda cell behind the 9/11 attacks, and allegedly trained at Khaldun Camp, a notorious al-Qaeda base in eastern Afghanistan, in April, 1998. If the Canadian does possess information that could assist in the prosecution of Mr. Moussaoui, his participation in the trial would be welcomed by U.S. authorities, who fear their criminal case could be close to collapse.

Mr. Moussaoui wants to cross-examine three captured al-Qaeda leaders whom he says can prove his innocence, including bin al-Shibh, but the United States fears that would damage the war on terrorism.

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