Here's a follow up article
Khadr laptop has terrorist files
Mountie: Daughter of Ahmed: Family lawyer says al-Qaeda 'action reports' available online
Joseph Brean
National Post
June 15, 2005
The RCMP discovered al-Qaeda and Taliban "action reports" and information about fugitive terrorists in materials seized at Toronto's airport from Zaynab Khadr as she returned from Pakistan in February, an RCMP officer alleges in a sworn affidavit.
A search of her computer also unearthed files of Arabic songs that include Osama bin Laden's voice and video clips of terrorists in action or making speeches, all of which are "cause for concern and require further investigation," according to the officer, Sergeant Konrad Shourie.
But the Mounties cannot yet return Ms. Khadr's laptop computer, the audiotapes or even her Arabic diary before the legal deadline, which passed last month, because they need more time to copy the information and analyze it.
A forensic analysis of the computer's data, for instance, will take "several more months," the affidavit says, and a psychological analysis of Ms. Khadr based on her diary could take even longer.
Ms. Khadr and her brother Abdullah are under RCMP investigation for participating in the activities of al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization of which their deceased father, Ahmed, was reputedly a high-ranking financier. They have not been charged.
Their younger brother, Omar, is detained at Guantanamo Bay after allegedly killing a U.S. medic in a firefight in Afghanistan. Abdurahman Khadr, another brother who claims to have attended al-Qaeda training camps, has publicly renounced the jihadist sympathies of his family.
Sgt. Shourie is to make his request for a deadline extension at a hearing in Toronto this Friday, at which he is to be cross-examined by Dennis Edney, a lawyer for the Khadr family.
Mr. Edney says the material should be returned promptly. "They are looking for information that can lead to terrorist charges against Zaynab Khadr, and my belief is that they have no basis for doing so," he said.
"If you've scanned the laptop and scanned the hard drive, and you've had it for three months, what more do you need? And what does it take for you to press charges?" Mr Edney said. "How long does it take to know if someone's a terrorist?"
Sgt. Shourie's affidavit also details a lengthy telephone correspondence between the RCMP and a different lawyer for Ms. Khadr, in which the police seemingly offered to return the materials in April, but could not co-ordinate a time and place.
In her luggage, Ms. Khadr also carried DVDs that were allegedly pirated, six audio tapes of patriotic songs and poems, and two Arabic books about bin Laden, the affidavit says.
The "after battle action reports" by al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters are allegedly contained on 16 cassette tapes seized from Ms. Khadr. According to Sgt. Shourie, the tapes have "significant interest and value" to the Department of National Defence, because they provide insight into the tactics of insurgent groups and they might show the whereabouts of fugitive members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban.
Mr. Edney said he has not heard these tapes, and that Sgt. Shourie's descriptions are too vague to say for sure what they contain.
"Are we talking about something that's off a newsreel? Are we talking about an al-Qaeda group discussion? It doesn't say that. I would have thought that if you had something more direct you would say that," he said.
The Toshiba laptop computer, under analysis in London, Ont., contains songs with such translated titles as I am a Terrorist and Strike and Kill the Infidels and also video clips from the Chechnyan conflict zone and the 2003 bombing of a British/American civilian compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the affidavit says.
Mr. Edney said these items are poorly described, and that it is not known who made the videos -- whether a news agency, a private citizen or a participant in the attack.
"From my review of some of the stuff they're talking about, it's material one can get on the Internet or on TV," Mr. Edney said.
Sgt. Shourie's affidavit acknowledges that many of these clips can be freely downloaded from the Internet but says they are still "cause for concern."
Mr. Edney would not confirm Ms. Khadr's claim, reported this week by the Toronto Star, that she purchased the laptop second hand almost a year ago in Pakistan. Ms. Khadr could not be reached yesterday.
© National Post 2005
