Ottawa is accused of covering up its handling of a double agent who smuggled British teenagers into Islamic State territory to join the terror group while he was spying for Canada.
An undated file photo of Shamima Begum.
Adrian Humphreys - Yesterday
National Post
Justin Trudeau, the prime minister, did not deny Ottawa’s work with an operative smuggling Western children to a dangerous battlefield, as outlined in a new book, saying that Canada’s spy agency must “be flexible and be creative” in the war against terrorists.
A book about Western intelligence agencies says that while police in Britain were searching for three schoolgirls who left their homes in London in 2015, Canadian intelligence and diplomatic officials withheld information about where they were and how they got there.
Canada then worked with British authorities to cover up its role, according to allegations on this long-percolating controversy in The Secret History of the Five Eyes by Richard Kerbaj, who was the security beat reporter for Britain’s Sunday Times from 2010 to 2020.
Canada was part of the military coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq at the time.
The book’s details are igniting alarming headlines internationally.
The information is particularly controversial in Britain because one of those smuggled teens was Shamima Begum, then 15, who remains in a detention camp in Syria fighting to return to Britain after her British citizenship was stripped from her because of her support for IS.
Part of Begum’s argument for returning is that she is a victim of human trafficking.
Tasnime Akunjee, Begum’s lawyer, told National Post that Canada’s actions facilitated human trafficking of minors.
“They have effectively been nabbing British children and trafficking them across the Syrian border for delivery to ISIS all in the name of intelligence gathering,” Akunjee said.
“Britain has lauded its efforts to stop ISIS and the grooming of our children by spending millions of pounds on the Prevent program and online monitoring. However, at the very same time we have been cooperating with a western ally, trading sensitive intelligence with them” as they worked with Mohammed Al Rashed, who claimed to be a spy for Canada.
“The calculation here is that the lives of British children, and the risk of their death, is part of the algorithm of acceptable risk that our Western allies have taken,” Akunjee said.
Begum herself recently told the BBC about Rashed saying: “He organized the entire trip from Turkey to Syria…. I don’t think anyone would have been able to make it to Syria without the help of smugglers.
“He had helped a lot of people come in…. We were just doing everything he was telling us to do because he knew everything, we didn’t know anything.”
Kerbaj said Canada’s role is well documented.
“There is absolutely no doubt that the Canadians worked on this and also it brings into question … about what role Britain played,” Kerbaj told TV news show Good Morning Britain on Wednesday. “The only way to get to the bottom of this is to have an inquiry,” with access to CSIS documents, he said.
Trudeau was asked about the controversy Wednesday.
Canadian intelligence services bound by ‘strict rules’: Trudeau
“We live in a particularly dangerous world,” he said.
“The fight against terrorism requires our intelligence services to continue to be flexible and to be creative in their approaches, but every step of the way, they are bound by strict rules, by principles and values that Canadians hold dear … and we expect that those rules be followed.
“I know there are questions about certain incidents or operations of the past and we will ensure to follow up on this,” he said.
Asked if CSIS went too far and if there would be an inquiry, Trudeau said “rigorous oversight mechanisms” monitor CSIS operations but he would consider “further steps” if needed.
Other Canadian officials, however, remained mute on the subject.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, the Department of Public Safety Canada, and Global Affairs Canada all referred questions about their respective roles to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
CSIS spokesman Brandon Champagne simply replied: “I cannot publicly comment on or confirm or deny the specifics of CSIS investigations, operational interests, methodologies, or activities.”
A 2015 combination of handout CCTV pictures shows, left to right: British teenagers Kadiza Sultana, Amira Abase and Shamima Begum.© Metropolitan Police Service
London’s Metropolitan police also said sensitivity prevented public discussion.
“We do not comment on matters relating to intelligence,” Met spokesman Matthew Russell said.
The issue of Rashed’s role was first revealed in 2015 after the high-profile disappearance of Begum, along with schoolmates Amira Abase, 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16.
The three left their homes in England and flew to Turkey to join the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, where they were met by Rashed.
Rashed then helped smuggle them into IS controlled territory. He was arrested by Turkish police soon after.
Turkish media reported in 2015 on Turkish intelligence leaks, writing that Rashed carried documents, photos, and videos revealing his activities, including a video — apparently taken by Rashed with a hidden camera — showing him with the missing British girls near Turkey’s border with Syria.
Rashed told Turkish authorities he built a relationship with Canadian officials in 2013 when he sought asylum in Canada. He said in a statement to police at the time he was offered Canadian citizenship in return for information on IS, according to contemporary reports.
Rashed’s police statement said he was working for CSIS and passed information through Canada’s embassy in Jordan. Postmedia reported at the time that the embassy in Amman was run by a former RCMP officer who was Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former top bodyguard.
Rashed was described as a Syrian dentist, also known as Mohammed Mehmet Rashid and Dr. Mehmet Rashid, who fled from Syria in 2013 during the civil war, moving to Jordan and then sought protection from Canada at its embassy in Amman.
A Turkish pro-government newspaper reported at the time that Rashed then travelled to Canada for several months before returning to the Middle East to work as a spy.
He claimed to have helped 15 people from Western countries travel into IS territory while working with CSIS and being paid by Canada to investigate the flow of foreign fighters to the IS battlefields.
The Secret History of the Five Eyes widens what has previously been published about Canada’s relationship with Rashed. Five Eyes is the name of the intelligence alliance of five countries: Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.
Kerbaj writes that Rashed sent passport information, luggage details, photos, and other information to Canada, including details on Begum and her friends, according to media accounts of the book.
Canada, however, did not learn details of the girls’ travels until four days after they crossed into Syria, Kerbaj writes.
“For seven years now, this has been covered up by the Canadians,” Kerbaj told The Guardian newspaper .
“I think the cover-up is worse than the offence in many ways here because you would expect human intelligence agencies to recruit members of criminal groups and terrorist groups,” he said.
• Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | Twitter: AD_Humphreys
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