Al-Qaida to target Canadian oil and gas
Pastor Dale Morgan
Al-Qaida to target Canadian oil and gas*
Ian MacLeod, with files from Lisa Schmidt and Joel Kom
CanWest News Service; with files from Calgary Herald
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
OTTAWA -- Al-Qaida has called for terrorist strikes against Canadian oil
and natural gas facilities to "choke the U.S. economy."
An online message, posted Tuesday by the Al-Qaida Organization in the
Arabian Peninsula, declares "we should strike petroleum interests in all
areas which supply the United States ... like Canada," the No. 1
exporter of oil and gas to the U.S.
"The biggest party hurt will be the industrial nations, and on top (of)
them, the United States."
The same group, the Saudi arm of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network,
claimed responsibility for last February's attack on the world's largest
oil processing facility at Abqaiq in Saudi Arabia's eastern province.
The attack was foiled when guards at the site opened fire on the
terrorists, blowing up their vehicles filled with explosives before they
could get through the gates.
The message is contained in Sawt al-Jihad (Voice of Jihad), the group's
online magazine.
A feature article, entitled "Bin Laden's Oil Weapon," encourages
operatives to continue to follow earlier directives from bin Laden to
strike oil targets not only in Saudi Arabia, but elsewhere, according to
a translation by the SITE Institute, a non-profit U.S. group that
monitors terrorist Web sites.
Three western countries are mentioned in the call-to-arms. Canada is
listed first, followed by Mexico and Venezuela. Would-be attackers are
instructed to specifically target oilfields, pipelines, loading
platforms, and carriers.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said Tuesday it was aware of
the posting, as is Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada.
"Do we think it's a serious threat? I can't get into that," said CSIS
spokeswoman Barbara Campion.
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said his province is working closely with
"the federal government and the American government ... to have the most
modern tracking system in terms of threat and, of course, monitoring and
also surveillance of all the critical infrastructure in Alberta when it
comes to oil and gas.
"I didn't know that Osama bin Laden knows where I am, but infrastructure
is critical and that's where we'll be protecting it," Stelmach added.
Greg Stringham, vice-president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum
Producers, said the threat is similar to a posting made about a year
ago, when an al-Qaida- affiliated Internet blog called on Canadian and
U.S. jihadists to attack an Alaskan oil pipeline.
The new posting is "not singling out Canada, it specifically mentions
Canada, but along with some other countries that are suppliers to the
U.S," he said.
"It's not the first time that it's happened and we have no credible
threat to substantiate it ... but still we are taking it seriously and
we've informed all of our members and contacts about that -- especially
those with critical infrastructure -- to pay extra attention and be
vigilant."
The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board knew about the threat the day it
appeared online thanks to information from Canadian intelligence
agencies, said spokesman Darin Barter.
"We're aware of this," he said Tuesday, adding the warning wasn't
significant enough to warrant raising the threat level.
"There was no evidence that pointed to any imminent or direct threat to
Alberta infrastructure."
Alberta sites deemed "critical infrastructure" are forced to have plans
guarding against a terrorist attack.
Barter wouldn't list those specific sites, though they include an
oilsands mine, electrical transmission lines, a pipeline, petrochemical
plant, refinery, and facilities for processing gas or oilsands products
and generating electricity.
Experts have long considered the U.S. dependence on foreign oil -- and
al-Qaida's evolving strategy to attempt to deny the U.S. access to its
major oil suppliers -- as the country's Achilles heel.
A major supply disruption would send energy prices soaring. Had the
Abqaiq attack been successful, some experts say oil prices would've
likely broken all records. A catastrophic hit could bring transportation
and other parts of the U.S. and other world economies to a standstill.
"We should strike petroleum interests in all areas which supply the
United States, and not only in the Middle East, because the target is to
stop its imports or decrease it by all means," says the article.
"We should not be overly concerned at this exact moment. Al-Qaida as an
organization has been severely weakened," said Tom Quiggan, a senior
fellow at the Center of Excellence for National Security at Singapore's
Nanyang Technological University.
The posting appears to be "intended to send a message to its followers
that they should consider a wider set of targets that just those in the
Middle East," he said.
It also is "an operational suggestion to the 'homegrown jihadists' and
independent groups that follow the inspiration message of Al-Qaida. To
them, it outlines a suggested list of potential new targets. Canada is
at the top of that list."
Since 2000, he said, Canada's proven oil reserves have risen from about
five billion barrels of oil to more than 180 billion barrels. That puts
Canada in the No. 2 position as an oil reserve country, second only to
Saudi Arabia and significantly ahead of other states such as Iraq,
Kuwait or Iran.
"Sawt al-Jihad has correctly analysed the oil-importing situation of the
United States and concluded that it is not just Middle Eastern suppliers
that are important," he said.