The Conservatives have called on the government to explain how a 20-year-old Pakistani arrested in Quebec over an alleged ISIS plot targeting U.S. Jews was able to get into Canada.
Federal officials declined to answer questions about the immigration status of Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, citing privacy laws, and said only they were reviewing how he came to Canada.
The U.S. Department of Justice has described Khan as a “Pakistani citizen residing in Canada,” and Canadian Jewish groups said officials told them at a briefing Friday they were investigating a student visa.
“We are looking into this,” said Aissa Diop, director of communications for Immigration Minister Marc Miller. “We will not comment further as there is an investigation.”
But deputy opposition leader Melissa Lantsman said if the Liberals do not “quickly disclose this key information,” the Tories “will be seeking to force them to do so, as we did with Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi.”
Eldidi and his son Mostafa were arrested in July as they were allegedly preparing an attack in Toronto for ISIS. Although the father is accused of appearing in a 2015 ISIS video, he was able to obtain refugee status and citizenship in Canada.
After Global News reported on the video, opposition parties called witnesses to testify before the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security about how Eldidi was able to immigrate from Egypt.
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The arrest of another alleged ISIS supporter just over a month later, this time over a planned mass shooting at a Jewish centre in Brooklyn, N.Y., has raised more questions about security screening.
After leaving Toronto early Wednesday, Khan was arrested in Ormstown, Que., as he was allegedly attempting to cross the border. Police said he had discussed using a smuggler to enter the U.S.
He was arrested on an extradition warrant filed by the U.S., which has charged him with attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, namely ISIS.
According to the FBI, Khan told undercover officers he wanted to “slaughter” Jews in New York City on or around Oct. 7, the anniversary of the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 in Israel.
The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies said the RCMP had briefed Canadian Jewish groups about the plot on Friday. At the meeting, police said Khan had been on a student visa.
However, police were not sure if he was still on a student visa, said Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, the FOSW’s senior director of advocacy and policy.
B’nai Brith Canada said Khan was “in Canada on a student visa.” Asked if that information came from the RCMP, the group said it was “implied during the briefing Friday.”
During the session, the RCMP and Public Safety Canada were asked about Khan’s immigration status and responded that a student visa was under investigation, the group said.
“We heard from the RCMP and Public Safety language that sounded to us that Mr. Khan was here on a student visa,” said Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith’s director of research and advocacy.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs also said that, during the briefing on Khan’s arrest, the RCMP was asked about his status in Canada and responded by referring to a student visa.
The RCMP directed questions about the matter to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which has not responded. Neither would Miller’s office provide any information.
The federal government’s student visa program has surged in recent years, amid concerns it has become a back door into Canada, prompting the Liberals to scale it back.
Although ISIS was defeated in Syria five years ago, it has found new bases of operation in West Africa and South Asia, and has begun reasserting itself in online propaganda urging followers to carry out terrorist attacks.
Police in Canada have dealt with a wave of ISIS-related cases since last year, including a stabbing on a bus in Surrey, B.C., and a plot targeting the Ottawa Jewish community.
A Calgary youth was arrested last year over a plot during Calgary’s Pride month, and three men were convicted of murdering a witness in Mississauga, Ont., who was about to report their ISIS fundraising operation to police.
Three Canadian women, from B.C., Ontario and Quebec, were also charged over their alleged roles in ISIS after the government flew them home from Syria, where they were captured by Kurdish fighters.
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
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