BOMBER LINKED TO CANADIAN IMAM
Libyan preacher formerly cleric at Ottawa mosque
TORON TO • The bomber who attacked a Manchester pop concert has been linked to an extremist imam from Ottawa whom Canadian intelligence officials had warned was “promoting violent jihad” in Libya.
Quoting a senior American official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, The New York Times reported that Salman Abedi “had links to a radical preacher in Libya identified as Abdul Baset Ghwela.”
The report appeared to be referring to a Libyan- Canadian the Canadian government calls Abdu Albasset Egwilla. Formerly a cleric at an Ottawa mosque, Egwilla has been accused of inciting violence since returning to Libya.
“The RCMP is aware of the latest allegations,” Sgt. Harold Pfleiderer, an RCMP spokesman, said when asked about the alleged Canadian connection to the Briton said to be behind Monday’s terrorist attack, which killed 22.
He would not confirm the RCMP was investigating, saying it would be inappropriate to do so before charges were laid. Canada was collaborating with its international partners to “ensure the safety and security of Canadian interests and that of the broader global community,” he said.
Egwilla did not respond to a request for comment sent to his Facebook page.
The New York Times report did not elaborate on the nature of the alleged connection between Abedi and Egwilla. Abedi had visited Libya days before he set off a bomb outside an Ariana Grande concert packed with teens.
ISIL has claimed responsibility for the attack but investigators are trying to identify Abedi’s possible links to extremist groups in Libya. Libyan authorities have arrested his father, Ramadan, and brother Hashim, who has been accused of belonging to ISIL.
“While we can confirm the government of Canada is aware of these allegations, we do not comment on national security operational matters,” said Scott Bardsley, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s press secretary.
Egwilla was part of a Libyan militant group based in Peshawar and supported by Osama bin Laden, according to a Canadian familiar with the extremist scene in the Pakistani city in the late ’ 80s and early ’90s.
He later arrived in Canada and obtained citizenship, but several years ago he returned to Libya, where he is considered a hardliner, and served as director of the Tripoli office of the ministry of religious endowments.
Canada’s Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre said in a 2014 intelligence report that Egwilla had appeared in a video in which he had “urged an audience of Libyan Islamist fighters to take part in jihad.”
“Jihad today i s simple and easily accessible, and does not require moving as in the past, as it was for Afghanistan and Iraq,” he said in the video. The “secret” intelligence report was released under the Access to Information Act.
Last March, Egwilla’s son, Owais, who grew up in Ottawa, was killed while fighting with an armed Islamist group in Benghazi. Before his death, he had posted messages on Facebook about jihad as well as the propaganda of the Syrian branch of al- Qaida.
After Egwilla’s son was killed, an Ottawa mosque held a service for him but distanced itself from the father’s call to arms.
“You want to talk about politics, take it to Tim Hortons,” the mosque president told the Ottawa Citizen.
Meanwhile in Libya, Egwilla responded to his son’s death by issuing another call to arms, saying in a televised speech: “Allah break the backs of the tyrants and the oppressors and the unjust and those nations of the world that are with them.
“Allah they have gathered against us and are scheming against us, so scheme against them. Trick them, kill them. … We are waiting for martyrdom in the name of Allah. And by Allah this is our path until we push back evil. We will not stop nor resign.”
A handful of Libyan- Canadians took part in the 2011 conflict to oust dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi. Since t hen, others have made their way to Libya for training and to fight with factions vying for control of the country.
Canadian security officials have been on the alert for travellers who may have been active in fighting in Libya since Gadhafi’s death, including those with possible links to ISIL and other terrorist or armed groups.
An i ntelligence report distributed to frontline Canada Border Services Agency officers in November, 2015, warned that ISIL was “l uring recruits and fighters” and could attract Canadians into the Libyan conflict.
“The potential for any of these Canadians to return to Canada is an inherent security risk and requires CBSA scrutiny of Canadians travelling to and from Libya as potential High Risk Travellers,” said the report.
CANADIANS TRAVELLING TO AND FROM LIBYA.