[news] CSIS report on anti-globalization protesters

[megan at resist.ca]

CSIS paints anti-trade movement as menace
Top-secret report warns of 'violent and extreme' elements
  
Stewart Bell, with files from Mary Vallis  
National Post 

Monday, February 24, 2003
  
A top-secret intelligence document says the violent fringes of the 
anti-globalization movement remain a security concern for Canada and 
that "extraordinary caution" is necessary to prevent trouble at 
international gatherings.

Although security agencies have since Sept. 11 focused their efforts 
extensively on the dangers of Islamic terrorism, the Canadian Security 
Intelligence Service report says Canada is also threatened by homegrown 
domestic extremists, notably anti-globalization radicals.

The briefing report, dated last November, shows months after Canada 
hosted the G8 Summit without incident in Kananaskis, Alta., Canada's 
intelligence service continues to view anti-globalization violence as a 
problem.

"The presence of world leaders in Kananaskis reminded us that one of the 
newest emerging domestic threats emanates from the highly-publicized 
phenomenon of anti-globalization," said the CSIS briefing.

"Security was taken seriously [and] certainly contributed to making this 
event happen almost violence free .... The rationale for this 
extraordinary caution will continue for future meetings.

"We must not forget, as graphically illustrated by the actions in Quebec 
City, and in Genoa, Italy in 2001, that there are elements within the 
movement which are violent and extreme," the CSIS briefing said.

An anti-globalization protester was killed for the first time in 
anti-capitalist riots during the extremely violent clash outside a G8 
meeting in Genoa.

A police officer shot Carlo Giuliani, 23, after he lobbed a fire 
extinguisher through the shattered window of a police vehicle that had 
been cornered by a frenzied crowd of demonstrators. The threat posed by 
such anti-globalization groups has also been apparent in Canada. In 
Quebec City in April, 2001, rioting militants attacked police guarding 
the Summit of the Americas conference. Nineteen officers were injured 
and some 400 protesters were arrested. Some protesters had sawed-off 
hockey sticks and attacked the police with smoke bombs and chunks of 
concrete.

Two months later, CSIS advised Parliament that violent fringe groups 
such as the Black Bloc anarchists, as well as militant factions of 
animal rights and environmental groups, were showing up at 
anti-globalization protests alongside trade unions, left-wing 
politicians and non-violent protesters.

Clifford Orwin, a political scientist at the University of Toronto, said 
anti-globalization demonstrations will probably always attract "violent 
elements."

"It would be quite surprising if they didn't," he said, adding violent 
protesters are drawn by the allure of publicity.

The briefing report on counter-terrorism was prepared for Wayne Easter, 
federal Solicitor-General, shortly after he took over the Cabinet post 
from Lawrence MacAulay. It was released to the National Post under the 
Access to Information Act.

It identifies the al-Qaeda terrorist network as the agency's top 
concern. After Sept. 11, Canada intensified its investigations into 
Islamic extremists, it said.

"As we have witnessed, one of the prime motivations for terrorism today 
is religious extremism. Islamic terrorists use a militant interpretation 
of the Koran to justify using extreme violence to enforce their 
beliefs."

The main threat comes from Sunni Muslim extremists. About 85% of Muslims 
are Sunnis, it says. A small minority see Osama bin Laden as a 
figurehead and adhere to his belief in a jihad, or holy war, against 
non-Muslims and moderate Muslims.

"Although the recent audio recording, now assessed to be the voice of 
bin Laden, specifically makes reference to Canada as a potential target 
of future terrorist attacks, it has [long] been our assessment that 
al-Qaeda posed a threat to Canada's interests."

But Islamic terrorists are not the only threat to Canada. Elements 
within Canadian multicultural groups are also actively supporting 
secessionist movements in such countries as India, Sri Lanka, Turkey, 
Ireland and the Middle East, the report says.

"Most of the world's major Sikh terrorist groups are represented in 
Canada," it says, adding that three B.C. Sikhs have been charged with 
the 1985 Air-India bombing that killed 329.