Islamic State Group | Canadian informant allegedly helped smuggle teenage girls into Syria

(OTTAWA) A double agent providing intelligence to CSIS allegedly helped three British teenage girls cross into Syria to join the ranks of the Islamic State armed group.

Melanie Marquis
The Press

The role played by the informant in question, Mohammed al-Rasheed, is explained in a book entitled The Secret History of the Five Eyesby journalist specializing in international security Richard Kerbaj, excerpts of which have been published in several British media.

The man was wearing the clothes of a soldier of the armed group Islamic State, and he facilitated the passage of people to the battlefield, in Syria, but at the same time, he worked for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) .

The double agent is said to have helped a trio of teenage girls from Great Britain to travel to Syria via Turkey in 2015. These revelations give hope to the lawyers of one of them, Shamima Begum , who was 15 at the time of the incident.

The now 23-year-old, who is stuck in a refugee camp in northern Syria, has been stripped of her British citizenship. His lawyers, who are contesting the decision, arguing that their client was the victim of human trafficking, thus obtain new ammunition, writes the daily The Guardian.

Also according to the British media, Ottawa did not inform London of the use of this man who facilitated the passage of teenage girls from the bus station in Istanbul, while the Metropolitan Police was trying to find their trace. Once the information was transmitted, the young women were already in Syria.

“Canadians have covered up this affair for seven years now. […] I think this cover-up is worse than the fault in several respects”, denounced Richard Kerbaj in an interview with The Guardian. As part of writing his book, he interviewed sources in the intelligence community in Canada.

These sources would thus confirm the allegations of Mohammed al-Rasheed, who had sworn to be in cahoots with the Canadian government when he was arrested by the Turkish authorities in 2015, while the war against the Islamic State was in full swing.

Justin Trudeau cautious

Invited to comment on this case on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not deny anything, but he remained evasive.

“We know that we live in a particularly dangerous world. The fight against terrorism requires our intelligence services to continue to be flexible and creative in their approach,” he said at a press conference at Rideau Hall, on the sidelines of a minor cabinet reshuffle.

Security agencies are however required to respect “strict rules”, “principles and values ​​that are dear to Canadians, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms”, added Justin Trudeau.

“I know that there are questions about certain incidents or certain operations that have taken place in the past […] and we will ensure that appropriate monitoring [des activités de sécurité nationale et de renseignement] to continue,” said the Prime Minister.

The mandate to study these sensitive issues falls to the committee of parliamentarians on national security and intelligence. The committee is made up of MPs and Senators who hold Top Secret security clearances, all of whom are bound to secrecy in perpetuity.

CSIS did not comment on the case Wednesday.

What responsibility for Canada?

In general, two elements in the story raise eyebrows France-Isabelle Langlois, Executive Director of Amnesty International Canada Francophone: human trafficking and “the inaction of Western governments vis-à-vis these young women and their children. who are caught in the camps in Syria”.

She believes that the Canadian government will have to consider whether it is morally acceptable to collaborate with an individual linked to a terrorist group to obtain information “knowing that he is engaged in human trafficking. […] who are children, minors, women in addition”.

We will probably have to continue to talk about this affair in the conditional, given the usual opacity of the intelligence services, notes M^me Langlois, who cannot therefore advance on the possible responsibility of Canada.

“There are a lot of things to clear up, but I think it may be part of the possibilities that there is some responsibility. It may be difficult to demonstrate, but at the very least, it challenges the ways of working, ”she says.