Christian Science Monitor (US)
27 August 2010
Canada arrested three citizens this week on allegations they were conspiring to facilitate terrorist activity. Homegrown terrorism is a rising concern, but some analysts have cautioned against encouraging radicalism by overstating the problem.
TORONTO - The arrests of three Canadian citizens on terrorism charges has boosted worries over so-called "homegrown terrorism" in this country.
On Wednesday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested two residents of Ottawa. A third suspect from London, Ontario was arrested Thursday.
Police allege they were conspiring with others in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Dubai, to facilitate terrorist activity. The alleged ringleader, Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh, is accused of possessing electronic circuit boards designed to remotely detonate improvised explosive devices, being a member of and remaining in contact with a terrorist group with links to the war in Afghanistan; and financially supporting a terrorist group. Police say they are searching for three alleged co-conspirators who are outside Canada.
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Sunday, September 5, 2010
Lifting the Veil of Albania, with pedals
Toronto Review of International Affairs
18 July 2010
Albania's still a bit rough around the edges, but it has long outgrown its reputation as an isolated and dangerous country. It took a ride across the country by bicycle to find that out.
AT THE MONTENEGRIN/ALBANIAN BORDER - The sun is out for the first time in days, a welcome relief from the crisp December air of the Adriatic that chills central Europe at this time of year. Snow has just begun to cover the peaks of the imposing North Albanian Alps, finally visible in the distance, free of the curtain of cloud that has veiled most of the landscape thus far. The road is newly paved, and to our surprise, perfectly smooth.
But we cycle into Albania with butterflies in our stomachs. It is, after all, Albania - home to a 40-year dictatorship that, until recently, left it as closed off from the world as North Korea is today. We had been vehemently cautioned not to visit, because, as one acquaintance put it, "the Albanians will steal the shirts off your backs." Guide books warned of a lack of medical facilities. It was the wild frontier between East and West, a dark unknown place where, we were told, we would be unimpressed, and possibly, in danger.
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