MOSCOW, September 4 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova - The involvement of Canadian national with terrorist groups, especially in the Middle East, poses threats of them returning to Canada and bringing violence into the country, says Canada's leading expert on national security, intelligence and terrorism Wesley Wark told RIA Novosti Thursday.
“There is a concern both about Canadians joining overseas terror groups and about the possibility of them bringing terrorist violence back to Canada should they return,” said Wark, a professor at the University of Ottawa.
Earlier today, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that three Canadians were directly involved in kidnapping of two American journalists by Islamic militants in Syria.
According to CBC, the Canadian citizens drained bank accounts of American captives - Theo Curtis and Matt Schrier - and forced them to reveal their computer passwords. The Canadians also wrote to the hostages' families, pretending to speak from their names.
“The Canadian government and its security agencies have been aware for some time of the flow of a small number of Canadians who travel overseas to join terrorist groups in places like Syria, Iraq, North Africa, Mali and Somalia,” Wark said commenting on the report.
He reminded that the government recently passed legislation aimed at tightening the law and allowing for criminal sanctions against anyone travelling from Canada to join an overseas terror group or facilitate terrorism.
“The scale of the problem faced by Canada in this regard is smaller than that of some of its European counterparts, such as the UK, but it is generally recognized as a universal security threat,” Wark told RIA Novosti.
“No official confirmation of the story has been provided. But of course western intelligence agencies would be interested in learning as much as they can from any detained persons who manage to escape from terrorist captivity or are released,” Wark said.
According to official Ottawa’s statements, around 130 Canadians are currently fighting overseas for Islamist militant groups, but some say that the real figures are much higher.
About 500 Britons and several thousand individuals from the United States are also believed to be fighting for the Islamic State militant group, which is currently operating in the territories of Syria and Iraq.
According to the US State Department, around 12,000 foreigners have joined the extremists fighting against government forces in Syria since the start of the conflict.
The above countries' governments are trying to ban the nationals fighting for the extremist groups abroad from returning home.
In June, Ottawa officials were granted new powers to strip Canadian citizenship from dual nationals who engage in acts of terrorism or fight against the country’s military abroad.
