Ottawa man urges attacks against Canadians in video
Islamic State attempted to incite further attacks against Canadians on Sunday, issuing a propaganda video in which an Ottawa extremist scolded the government for joining the international military coalition fighting the terrorist group.
The six-minute video said Canadians would be indiscriminately targeted and that Muslims were obliged to either join Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, or “follow the example” of the attackers who struck in Ottawa and St-Jeansur-Richelieu, Que.
“You either pack your bags, or prepare your explosive devices. You either purchase your airline ticket, or you sharpen your knife,” said the video, produced by a propaganda group linked to Islamic State.
The speaker identified himself as Abu Anwar al-Canadi, but five former friends said they recognized him as John Maguire, a University of Ottawa dropout who converted to Islam and became radicalized before vanishing last year.
Looking gaunt and sounding alien to those who knew him in Canada, he seemed to read from a script. The video is part of a propaganda push by Islamic State designed to attract recruits and use the threat of terrorism to deter the air campaign that has killed hundreds of fighters and, according to military officials, stalled the group’s advance.
“It follows quite closely to the theme of a variety of videos aimed at Western audiences, like the video aimed at French Muslims a few weeks ago,” said Prof. Amarnath Amarasingam of the Dalhousie University Resilience Research Centre, who is studying Canadian foreign fighters. “The interrelated themes are of course ones of religious obligation: if a caliphate has been established and Muslims have been persecuted by the state you are living in, you are required to leave the state you are living in. The risk of staying is hellfire. Maguire’s video is similar to the video aimed at French Muslims.”
The video refers repeatedly to the October killings of two Canadian Forces members in Quebec and Ottawa by men who had adopted Islamist extremist beliefs. It said the attacks were a “direct response” to Canada’s military role in Iraq.
Responding to the video, Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said terrorism remained a serious threat to Canadians. “That is why we are taking part in the coalition that is currently conducting air strikes against ISIL, and supporting the security forces in Iraq in their fight against this terrorist scourge.”
Originally from Kemptville, Ont., Maguire, 24, is one of the dozens of Canadians believed to have joined extremist groups in Iraq and Syria.