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Canadian spy chief believes bin Laden not dead
Vancouver, British Columbia, Nov 08: The head of Canada`s spy agency suspects that Osama bin Laden is still alive, but has warned the al Qaeda organisation would remain a serious threat even if its leader were dead.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Nov 08: The head of Canada's spy agency suspects that Osama bin Laden is still alive, but has warned the al Qaeda organisation would remain a serious threat even if its leader were dead.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service Director Ward Elcock acknowledged intelligence agencies do not have hard information about the Saudi-born militant's fate, and some people within his own organization think bin Laden has been killed.
''There is no evidence in either direction, it is a question of analysis... my suspicion at this point, on the basis of analysis with no other information available, is that he is probably still alive,'' Elcock said in answer to an audience question at a business luncheon in Vancouver yesterday.
Bin Laden's whereabouts remain a mystery. Some Western intelligence officials have said he was probably killed in Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains during the prolonged US bombing last year. Other say he may have fled Afghanistan, perhaps to Pakistan.
Canadian soldiers worked with US military forces in Afghanistan in the hunt for bin Laden and his supporters.
Elcock, echoing statements of senior a US military official in London yesterday, said the ''more fundamental question'' is whether it even matters if bin Laden is alive.
''If he's already dead and it (al Qaeda) is functioning, then obviously it doesn't matter,'' Elcock told reporters.
Elcock, in one of his rare public speeches, warned members of the Vancouver Board of Trade that last month's bombing in Bali, which killed 200 people including two Canadians, showed that al Qaeda has not been destroyed and remains a threat.
Elcock said al Qaeda was willing to wait long periods between attacks, and the intense international hunt after the Sept. 11 attacks -- which the US blames on bin Laden's organisation – had simply driven it deeper undercover.
''They operate not on our timetable but on their own,'' he told the business group.
The spy chief said Canadians should not view themselves as immune to terror attacks, although he said extremist organisations likely view Canada as a difficult target to attack on its home soil.
Elcock declined to say if he thought Canada faced an increased threat if it decided to participate in a US-led war on Iraq, calling the question ''hypothetical'' since there was no war yet.
Bin Laden's whereabouts remain a mystery. Some Western intelligence officials have said he was probably killed in Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains during the prolonged US bombing last year. Other say he may have fled Afghanistan, perhaps to Pakistan.
Canadian soldiers worked with US military forces in Afghanistan in the hunt for bin Laden and his supporters.
Elcock, echoing statements of senior a US military official in London yesterday, said the ''more fundamental question'' is whether it even matters if bin Laden is alive.
''If he's already dead and it (al Qaeda) is functioning, then obviously it doesn't matter,'' Elcock told reporters.
Elcock, in one of his rare public speeches, warned members of the Vancouver Board of Trade that last month's bombing in Bali, which killed 200 people including two Canadians, showed that al Qaeda has not been destroyed and remains a threat.
Elcock said al Qaeda was willing to wait long periods between attacks, and the intense international hunt after the Sept. 11 attacks -- which the US blames on bin Laden's organisation – had simply driven it deeper undercover.
''They operate not on our timetable but on their own,'' he told the business group.
The spy chief said Canadians should not view themselves as immune to terror attacks, although he said extremist organisations likely view Canada as a difficult target to attack on its home soil.
Elcock declined to say if he thought Canada faced an increased threat if it decided to participate in a US-led war on Iraq, calling the question ''hypothetical'' since there was no war yet.
Bureau Report