Al-Qaeda Agent Identifies Montrealer, CSIS Says

Adil Charkaoui, the Moroccan-born Montrealer arrested this spring and accused of being an al-Qaeda sleeper agent, has been fingered by Abu Zubaydah, a close adviser to Osama bin Laden now in U.S. custody. A brief prepared by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service says that Abu Zubaydah saw Mr. Charkaoui, known as "Zubeir al-Maghrebi," in Afghanistan in 1993, suggesting that Mr. Charkaoui was involved with radical militants long before his arrival in Canada.

Citing security concerns, Canadian officials have not disclosed what led them to detain Mr. Charkaoui and seek his expulsion from Canada under a certificate declaring him a threat to national security. MontrealÂ’s Muslim community continues to voice strong public opposition to the secretive nature of the proceedings surrounding the case.