In a bid to find out who is recruiting young Canadians into terrorism, police have started knocking on doors of former South Collegiate Institute students, The Free Press has learned.
At the same time, Muslim parents across the city are pushing their children to think of anything that might help the investigation.
But some parents are now starting to question what police knew and when, and why no one in the Muslim community was alerted.
"Last night, the RCMP knocked on my door," said Ahmed Yahya Ali, the father of two boys who once socialized with Ali Medlej, Xristos Katsiroubas and Aaron Yoon -- a trio of young Londoners now linked to terrorist activities in Africa.
"(The officer) asked to talk to my sons. He said 'there's no issue' . . . I know they want to talk to anyone who knew those guys," he said. At 24, the twins have moved out, but Yahya Ali was glad to give the officer their numbers. Anything to help police find out who could have been behind a plan that sent Katsiroubas and Medlej to Algeria where they helped stage horrific attacks in January that left 70 dead -- including them.
Several former friends have told the Free Press this week the boys went from being quite average to practicing Muslims and then on to become almost obsessive in their talk about prayer and God. They didn't attend the mosque or Islamic Centre because those places were reportedly too moderate for them. Instead, Katsiroubas and Medlej at least found something or someone that influenced them to hide behind Islam as a reason to commit acts of terror.
Yahya Ali said he was "really shocked," when he first saw the news about the Londoners linked to terror -- and realized they were two men who had gone to school with his kids. "I asked them 'what do you know about this? What do you think about this? These were your classmates -- you don't know anything about it?'
"The bottom line is we need to work together collectively to find out who is doing this." said Yahya Ali at the London Muslim Mosque for Friday prayers.
"What made these young boys join together in the same mentality? Who is the source? Who is brainwashing the children?"
And another question from the concerned parents of young Muslim men. Why didn't police do more to prevent what happened? "We know the police knew something about those boys in 2007. If they knew since then, why didn't they come to this area?" Yahya Ali said. "They should have told everybody -- parents, schools, community leaders and faith leaders. They could have asked the Imam to look out for it. If people knew, they'd be looking for it." "They would do it with drugs, they would do it with gangs. . . that's what this is. Some kind of gang that uses the name Islam and they are hijacking it."
Yahya Ali said he had a stern talk with his kids this week.
"I was so concerned. I said 'This is not right. This is not Islam, it's gangs. If anybody ever tells you to kill anyone or to kill yourself, don't ever go with that person. That's not Islam.
"But (his kids) know that," he said.
Finding the people behind the attacks, and preventing another relies on help from Londoners - Muslims, the South Collegiate community, perhaps friends of the trio - said Michel Juneau-Katsuya, a former CSIS intelligence officer who now runs an international security firm.
"The greatest fear at this point is that somebody else was recruited and is ready to do something in Canada."
Somebody must have information, or at least suspicions, about the man or men who recruited the Londoners, he said.
"It is undeniable that for a certain period of time somebody in London succeeded in recruiting these people, one or two guys capable of organizing an underground that was gathering on a regular basis," he said. "This guy has not lived in a room for months without getting out at one point or another."
One clue to keep in mind: There's a possibility the recruiter spent only a few years in London, and left soon after the young men did, said Lorne Dawson, a University of Waterloo professor specializing in research on homegrown terrorism.
Dawson said he sympathizes with London's Muslim community, on the spot for the actions of a few men who few knew.
But he agreed with Juneau-Katsuya that someone knows something, even if they're unaware of its importance,
During prayers on Friday, Dr. Mohammad Haddara spoke to the congregation about the events, saying the community is greatly "saddened," by the terror attacks. "Our sadness and our grief is threefold -- we are saddened for the innocent lives being lost . . . for the families of the seemingly young men who get involved in these activities and commit these crimes, and we are saddened because of the abuse or misuse of the name of Islam to justify such acts," he said.
jennifer.obrien@sunmedia.ca
randy.richmond@sunmedia.ca
Q&A with Lorne L. Dawson, Chair and professor in sociology and legal studies at University of Waterloo
Q: Is there a profile of a typical homegrown terrorist?
A: There is no easy and simple profile. The majority come from fairly comfortable lower middle- class and middle-class and even in some cases higher-level professional backgrounds. They are psychologically very normal . . . all the evidence suggests that. The standard crimogenic factors, why people get involved in criminal activities, don?t apply. They?re called ?remarkably ordinary.?
The thing that seems to be emerging is we are dealing with primarily young men . . . who are really having trouble with identity issues. All young guys have trouble with identity issues. These guys are different. They have a good sense that the world is a disappointing place, the world is not what they hoped it would be. They are imbued with a sense they want to do what is morally correct. They are increasingly seeing the world as a corrupt place. They are looking for some way that they can find an identity, they can have some purpose. They may be in situations where they are lacking guidance.
Then they are exposed to the jihadi narrative. They convert to Islam but maybe there is not much support. They are outsiders at the mosque. They are online and there is the lure and the appeal and the moral justification of defending Islam against outside forces that are committing atrocities.
Q: What are the signs of trouble parents should look for?
A: This is the problem. The first sign is going to be a more intense religiosity . . . removing themselves from bad influences in the community. . . they are going to be getting involved in charitable activities. It looks like a good thing initially.
But usually what?s going to happen is there is going to be fights within the family about the fact the family doesn?t practise religion enough or the family is engaged in improper behaviour. The child is going to try to convert parents, convert brothers, sisters. And there will be tensions and struggles.
They start talking about how Muslims around the world are being humiliated, how they are being systematically attacked by the Canadian government and, conspiracy theories, how 911 was probably done by the American government.
And then if they start talking about naming individuals, like Osama bin Laden, or about the need for the whole world to be revolutionized or that Sharia law should be implemented in Canada . . . and then calling Canadians pigs, which from a Muslim perspective means subhuman . . .
Q: Is there a pattern that determines if you are going to attack overseas or in your own home country?
A: The first impulse is to overseas because there is a sense Canadians aren?t really responsible and you don?t want to harm your fellow Canadians. What you are interested in is fighting those exploiters where they are causing trouble in Muslim societies.
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