Report: Hizbullah Maintains Strong Network in Canada
Hizbullah has been able to maintain a strong network of agents in Canada who were able to purchase weapons on the open market and send them to Lebanon, a report published by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said.
“The group has built a significant pool of members, supporters and sympathizers in the country,” the think tank said.
A report that was published in 2011 by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said that “from a Canadian perspective, it is important to know which countries may be seeking to use Canada for the acquisition of materials and technologies.”
According to the institute’s report, such attributes make Canada an attractive place to engage in business and trade makes it an attractive place to procure weapons and dual-use materials.
Canada’s Integrated Threat Assessment Centre (ITAC) stressed in 2006 that Hizbullah “has had a presence in Canada.”
Its activities in Canada include, according to the report, fundraising and the collection and the procurement of equipment.
In 2008, an ITAC assessment reported that Hizbullah members may “reside in Canada to undertake activities such as intelligence collection.”
The Washington Institute for Near East policy said there is evidence that Hizbullah operatives in Canada may be involved in more than just intelligence and espionage.
The report pointed out that in June 2008 Hizbullah has activated suspected “sleeper cells” in Canada to carry out an attack to avenge the death four months earlier of Imad Mughniyeh.
Mughniyeh, a top Hizbullah commander, was assassinated in a Damascus car bombing on February 12, 2008.
The report noted that the United States and Canadian authorities are tracking the party’s activity in purchasing “proscribed” high-tech military and other weaponry.
It said that North America has served as a base for Hizbullah’s “criminal enterprises,” providing an example of an alleged agent identified as Fawzi Mousatapha Assi, who after surrendering to U.S. authorities in 2004, pled guilty to charges of providing material support to Hizbullah.
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