A Look at Canada's Anti-Terror List

Finally, Tamil Tigers added to the Canada's anti-terrorism list after years of Liberal governance which seemed to be dependant on the financial support of such groups. This is an excellent job done by the Tory government.

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The Tigers, which got an easy ride in Canada from the Liberal government, are the 39th terrorist group to be outlawed under Canada’s post 9/11 Anti-Terrorism Act, and the first added to the list by the new Conservative government of Stephen Harper.

This made me take a look at Canada's anti-terror list which also includes an Iranian terrorist group named MEK/NCRI. The group added to the list last year, a bit late, but a very good move by the former Canadian government led by Paul Martin.

The detail about MEK/NCRI can be found here and the description of the group is the best I have read on the web. No other description is close to what Canadians wrote.

Unfortunately, this group is still doing business in Canada by selling its propaganda paper, asking for money from Iranian expat living in the country and hold rallies. I have no idea how effective this anti-terror list can be but the description of the terrorist MEK in this list is an eye opener - That is a part of the Canadian gov't description of MEK:

It subscribes to an eclectic ideology that combines its own interpretation of Shiite Islamism with Marxist principles. The group aspires to overthrow the current regime in Iran and to establish a democratic, socialist Islamic republic. This Islamic socialism can only be attained through the destruction of the existing regime and the elimination of Western influence, described as "Westoxication" . To achieve this Islamic ideology, the use of physical force, armed struggle or jihad is necessary. Besides having had an alliance with Saddam Hussein, the organization has or had ties with: Amal, the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Al Fatah, and other Palestinian factions. The MEK is even suspected of past collusion with the regime of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The above description is good and shows us that MEK is ready to achieve its goal of removing the regime through violent actions. That is what I reject. I want the regime to be removed but not through violent actions. Many Iranians want a peaceful permanent change in Iran which brings them democracy, freedom of speech and religion.

Again, majority of groups added to the anti-terror list come from Islamic countries or have direct and indirect link with Islamic jihadist groups. And the irony is that most of these groups have the backing of the current Iranian regime directly or indirectly.

I am so pleased to see that groups like ETA, Islamic Jihad, MEK and Tamil Tigers are on the terror list but the effectiveness of such lists remains to be seen and I believe that the current conservative government of Canada must enforce the list and Anti-Terror Act in order to ban the activities of terrorist groups in Canada completely.

It is necessary to say that this group has no popularity base inside Iran and majority of the Iranians dislike this group for its cooperation with Saddam during the 1980s Iraq-Iran war and their cooperation with Khomeini to overthrow the government of the late Shah of Iran in 1979.

MEK is also responsible for murdering American servicemen in Iran during the reign of the Shah in 60s and 70s.

There are other groups such as Al-Qaida which was added to the list a year after Sep.11th attacks and one should wonder why it was added to the anti-terrorism list 4 years after bombings of the US embassies in Africa and 1 year after 9/11?

All in all, having an anti-terror list is a very good idea but the effectiveness of such lists is in question and the new government must enforce the law as much as possible and increase the efforts to crackdown on such groups which are still active in this country.