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Project Thread was a Canadian police operation that resulted in the arrest of 24 immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area in 2003 amidst incorrect allegations they formed a threat to national security, and maintained "suspected ties to al-Qaeda".〔CBC, (Al-Qaeda suspect to stay behind bars ), August 28, 2003〕〔 It was later determined that police had based their operation on "flimsy evidence and stereotypes".〔(EJP Canada Hearing Summary )〕 After investigating an unregistered diploma mill, police had seized a copy of the names of the 400 students who had attended the school and arrested 24 of them, allegedly gathering the Muslim names off the list and finding dubious connections between them to report as a disrupted terrorist plot.〔 Among the accusations, authorities alleged that the "al-Qaeda sleeper cell" had experimented with explosives, that one had taken flight training and others had been seen loitering around the Pickering power plant, and may have been targeting the CN Tower in Toronto.〔〔 After criticism that the Muslim community in Canada had ignored the plight of the falsely accused men,〔 18 different men from the Greater Toronto Area were arrested three years later by Canadian authorities and charged with almost identical offences.〔(CNN.com — Lawyer: Government says terror plans included beheading — Jun 7, 2006 )〕〔(Terror suspects plotted two separate attacks )〕〔(globeandmail.com: National )〕〔Toronto18.com, (Frequently Asked Questions )〕〔Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, (Open letter on Toronto 11 to Authorities ), May 3, 2008〕 Eventually the government backed away from its initial alarms of terrorism, and re-labeled the case a simple charge of "immigration fraud".〔 When they were eventually deported from the country, despite the admission they "faced the possibility of persecution",〔Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, (Zahoor Hussain Viciously Deported ), April 28, 2004〕 the men found themselves harassed and threatened by a country that now believed they were terrorists.〔Shephard, Michelle & Sonia Verma. Toronto Star, "(They only arrested the Muhammads )", November 30, 2003〕 The men claimed that their lawyers and friends had been threatened and harassed by Canadian authorities.〔Iqbal, Nasir. DAWN, (Released Pakistanis threaten to sue Canadian govt ), December 10, 2003〕 Critics claimed the arrests had been "trying to placate US security officials".〔 ==Entry to Canada== The men were held at Maplehurst Correctional Complex.〔〔 Each was also noted as having the name ''Muhammad'' in their full name.〔〔DAWN, (Released Pakistanis threaten to sue Canada ), December 10, 2003〕 All of the men had entered the country on student visas between January 1998 and September 5, 2001, and a number of them had cited Ottawa Business College (OBC) as their chosen institution. The former director of the school which had closed in 2001, Luther Samuel, admitted to selling C$700 registration letters to approximately 400 immigration applicants to improve their ability to apply for residence in Canada, and offering small amateurly produced courses across six rented classrooms. When the students expressed fears this was just a diploma mill taking thousands of dollars in tuition money from them, the director assured them they were just in a small branch of a larger downtown school.〔〔 Those who left the school, realising that it was a scam, said they were afraid they would lose their immigration status if they reported the situation to police.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Project Thread」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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