Blame Canada!

[Jeeper]

By JAMES GORDON MEEK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON - Iraq sent spies from Canada to New York and Washington this month to snoop and stir up anti-war demonstrations, according to a government report obtained by the Daily News.


The classified document also reveals a plot by Al Qaeda-linked militants in Zimbabwe to attack American targets in that country and elsewhere if the U.S. declares war on Iraq.


It suggests the group, Tablik Ja'maat, could be a "conduit for communication" between Osama Bin Laden's terror network and Iraqi leaders.


The threats, disclosed to U.S. spy agencies yesterday, are detailed in a secret report prepared by an intelligence unit in the Homeland Security Department.


It comes as the White House weighs the release of classified information to prove Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's links to Al Qaeda and efforts to evade UN weapons inspectors.


A source identified as a member of the Iraqi opposition told U.S. agents that Iraqis in Canada were ordered to recruit Arabs and other foreigners for espionage missions in the U.S., the report said.


The Iraqi Embassy in Ottawa sent operatives to New York and Washington with instructions to "intensify spying activities and to carry out anti-U.S. demonstrations to stop a war against Iraq," the report said.


The report said the Iraqis were willing to spend "large sums" to back the effort.


The report also describes a plot by Tablik Ja'maat to carry out "coordinated attacks" against U.S targets in Zimbabwe if war is declared on Iraq. Other attacks, revealed by the group's leader at a Jan. 18 meeting at a mosque in Harare, would take place in Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey, South Africa and Israel, the report said.


An Associated Press report last week said that the FBI is looking to question as many as 50,000 Iraqis living in the U.S. to root out potential spies and terror cells.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_...66p-52218c.html