Why RCMP charge ‘dead’ terrorists
‘Better to be safe than sorry’ without convincing proof
TORONTO — Gruesome photos posted online in March showed the shot-up bodies of 11 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fighters that Kurdish forces said they had killed in an ambush near Tal Hamis in northern Syria.
One of them, dressed in bloodied camouflage, looked a lot like Ahmad Waseem, a 27-year-old who left Windsor, Ont., in 2013 because, as he explained in a post on social media, “We kill and beg to be killed to get closer to Allah.”
Although he certainly looked dead in the photo, on Tuesday the RCMP charged Waseem with three terrorism offences, describing him as “at large” and saying he was wanted on an arrest warrant and an INTERPOL notice.
Former University of Ottawa student John Maguire was similarly charged in February over his involvement with ISIL, although he too was reported dead by jihadists, raising the question: Why are the Mounties charging dead terrorists?
“We don’t know for sure that he is dead,” RCMP Supt. Lise Crouch, head of the Ontario Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, said in an interview after Waseem was charged. “Somebody showed us a picture, but we have no way of confirming that he’s dead.”
Even if police have reason to believe Canadian extremists have died in Syria, Iraq or Pakistan, in the absence of convincing proof they assume they are alive. “So for us it’s better to be safe than sorry so that we are prepared,” Crouch said.
In one notorious case, British jihadist Imran Khawaja, who had posed with severed heads in Syria, faked his death in an attempt to return to the U.K. undetected. He was arrested and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. “We know others have said that they’ve been martyred and they came back,” the superintendent said.
A Pakistani-Canadian, Waseem graduated from a Catholic high school in Windsor and left for Syria in 2012. After he was injured in combat, he returned home and police and mosque leaders tried to talk him out of his commitment to extremist violence.
But it didn’t work. In November 2013, using fraudulent documents and a circuitous route, he flew back to the Middle East with a Palestinian-Canadian friend named Mohammed El Shaer. From Turkey, Waseem crossed into Syria, eventually joining ISIL.
A compulsive user of social media, Waseem documented his exploits on Twitter and other sites, sometimes using the handle Abu Turaab, expressing his religious fanaticism and admiration for Osama bin Laden and often posting selfies.
The last photo to appear online showed him — or someone who resembles him — sprawled on a grassy plain, lined up with 10 other dead gunmen. Shown the photo, El Shaer said, “I can’t confirm if that is actually Waseem or not.”
In emails, he said he had not heard from his friend. “I am unsure if he’s alive or not since I haven’t had no communication with him,” said El Shaer, who is also wanted by the RCMP. He denied he was in Syria and appeared to be in Turkey.
Prof. Amarnath Amarasingam, who is conducting research for an academic study of Canadian foreign fighters, said several foreign fighters in Syria have told him Waseem was killed in the March battle over Tal Hamis.
His friends in Windsor also identified him from the photo, he said. “In the chaos of Syria, we rarely get photos of Western fighters who die in battle, but I think we can be fairly sure in this case. I would be quite surprised if we come to find out that he is in fact still alive.”
Nonetheless, the RCMP continued its investigation, charging Waseem in absentia this week with facilitating terrorist activity, participating in terrorist activity and leaving Canada to participate in the activities of a terrorist group.
Much of the evidence came courtesy of Waseem himself, who openly wrote about his participation in terrorism under various online aliases. The facilitation charge relates to messages he sent on how to join the fight in Syria, what equipment to bring and how to prepare.
“He’s provided advice and information on social media sites to others,” Crouch said. She said while the photo of the dead fighter looked like him, police still had to follow through. Waseem came back to Canada once before, she noted.
“So for us it’s just a way to finish off the investigation that we have against him,” she said. “It’s for us to be prepared should he come back, and at least we have a mechanism in which to ensure the safety of the community by being able to arrest him and bring him before the courts.”