ZGram - 6/2/2003 - "CSIS on the hot seat..."

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!

June 2, 2003

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

This might be a significant development in whether or not Ernst 
Zundel is going to obtain his freedom after all.

Remember that it is CSIS, the Canadian civilian spy agency, that has 
supplied in camera - that is, secret - information to Canada's 
Immigration Minister, permitting him to certify Ernst Zundel as a 
"danger to the security of Canada" and even as being a "terrorist." 
Neither Ernst nor his attorney were allowed to know who supplied the 
so-called "evidence" for this obscene and utterly off-the-wall charge.

Remember also that, according to investigative reporter, Adrew 
Mitrovica, author of "Covert Entry", it was CSIS that knew about a 
parcel bomb meant to assassinate Ernst Zundel in 1995.  This bomb was 
shipped on several passenger airlines from Vancouver to Toronto to 
Ottawa and back to Toronto without anyone being notified that a 
deadly cargo was aboard - although a CSIS agent, snooping on the 
Zundel mail, was explicitly warned not to touch a parcel for Ernst 
Zundel coming from Vancouver.

Now it turns out that CSIS's toes are being held to the coals by 
Canada's Opposition Party regarding a frighteningly similar case that 
happened almost two decades ago.

Read on, and draw your own conclusions:

[START]

Opposition wants probe of CSIS 'cover-up'


By ALLISON LAWLOR
Globe and Mail Update


Opposition MPs demanded Monday that the Liberal government call a 
full public inquiry into the possible involvement of a CSIS spy in 
the inner circle of the Air-India bombing conspiracy.

Court documents recently released suggest that the Canadian Security 
Intelligence Service knew about the Air-India bombing before it 
happened but failed to report it to the RCMP, Canadian Alliance MP 
Kevin Sorenson said in the House of Commons Monday.

"Will the Solicitor-General call a full public inquiry to ensure that 
there was full disclosure on the part of CSIS?" Mr. Sorenson asked.

Solicitor-General Wayne Easter fired back saying that "to suggest 
that CSIS for any reason would pull back from an ongoing 
counter-terrorism investigation and jeopardize the lives of Canadians 
and others, Mr. Speaker, is absolutely absurd."

Mr. Easter said the case is before the courts and his intention is to 
see it to its conclusion.

"I am not going to in any way, Mr. Speaker, potentially jeopardize 
the case by making comments that might be misconstrued," Mr. Easter 
said during Question Period. "I am not commenting on the case."

Canadian Alliance justice critic Vic Toews repeated the call for an 
inquiry, saying the victims' families deserved to know if there was a 
cover-up. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien promised a public inquiry into 
the bombing years ago and should deliver on his promise before he 
leaves office, Mr. Toews said.

"There is no cover-up," Mr. Easter said.

NDP MP Alexa McDonough demanded to know what steps the 
Solicitor-General had taken to ensure that proper civilian oversight 
of CSIS existed.

Mr. Easter pointed to the conclusions of a 1991 security intelligence 
review committee. After investigating the Air-India bombing, the 
committee concluded there was no truth to the allegations of 
cover-up, he said.

Court documents released last week indicate that a CSIS mole may have 
been part of the conspiracy and may have been told to back away from 
the group a few days before the disasters to ensure that CSIS was not 
implicated in the deaths.

Two RCMP officers identified an outspoken Canadian advocate of Sikh 
separatism in India, Surjan Singh Gill, as a CSIS spy.

"Mr. Surgan Singh Gill was involved in this right from the start and 
was probably directed by certain people to stay involved and to learn 
what was going on," RCMP Inspector Lorne Schwartz stated on Oct. 28, 
2000, while interrogating one of the defendants in the Air-India 
trial.

RCMP Sergeant Jim Hunter said Mr. Gill, at the behest of his CSIS 
handlers, wrote out a note resigning from the group before the bombs 
were placed on the aircraft.

"His CSIS agents have told [Mr. Gill] to back out," Sgt. Hunter 
stated. "They told him to get out of there. That things are happening 
and you can't be seen as part of that."

CSIS refused to comment Sunday on whether Mr. Gill was one of their 
agents. "The matter is before the court, and we're not in a position 
to comment," Nicole Currier, a CSIS spokeswoman, said in an interview 
with The Globe and Mail.

The Air-India bombings on June 23, 1985, remain the deadliest crime 
in Canadian history. Businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik and millworker 
Ajaib Singh Malik are being tried on murder charges.

The trial, which began on April 28, is not intended to answer 
questions about the multimillion-dollar investigation by the RCMP and 
CSIS. However, several documents submitted to the court in pretrial 
hearings deal with the activities of the police force and the 
security agency.

An RCMP memo, marked confidential, shows that CSIS agents started 
surveillance of Mr. Gill on June 25, 1985, two days after the 
Air-India bombings. CSIS began wiretapping his phone a week after the 
explosions.

The Mounties spoke with Mr. Gill on 24 occasions up to September, 
1999. In the mid-1990s, prosecutor Robert Wright endorsed a plan to 
offer immunity from prosecution to Mr. Gill in exchange for his 
co-operation, the documents also show.

With reports from Robert Matas in Vancouver

[END]