OTTAWA, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Canadian police are
expecting to arrest more suspects after 17 were detained on terrorism charges
for allegedly plotting bombings in and around Toronto, the country's business
centre and largest city.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Assistant Commissioner Mike McDonell and Public Safety Minister
Stockwell Day both said Monday the investigation is not finished and there could
be more arrests ahead.
"The RCMP and CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence
Service) have both indicated that discussions are ongoing and there's still
people that they're talking to," Day said in an interview with Global National.
McDonell told reporters that said the arrests were
imminent, possibly coming this week.
The 12 adults and five youths were arrested on the
weekend in a sweeping police raid in Toronto suburbs, the second such operation
after a similar move in 2003, when 23 people were arrested for allegedly being
connected with al-Qaeda.
Police accuse the suspects arrested Friday night of
planning to use bombs made from ammonium nitrate, a common fertilizer. They are
alleged to have bought three tonnes of ammonium nitrate, three times the amount
used in the bombing of a U.S. government buildingin Oklahoma City that killed
168 people in 1995.
The suspects are charged with a variety of offences,
including knowingly participating in a terrorist group and either receiving or
providing terrorist training.
Investigators identified the suspects as individuals
who were "inspired by al-Qaeda."
Police have refused to disclose the intended targets
of the alleged attacks, confirming only that the Toronto Transit Commission's
subway lines were not on the list.
But according to the daily newspaper Globe and Mail,
the targets included political and economic symbols including the Parliament
Buildings and Peace Tower in capital Ottawa, along with the CN Tower and Toronto
Stock Exchange in Toronto.
CN tower, at 553 meters high, is the world's tallest
building and Canada's most recognizable architectural landmark.
The downtown Toronto office of the Canadian Security
Intelligence Service was also reported as a possible target.
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