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HOST: PETER MANSBRIDGE
TERRENCE MCKENNA: When he arrived in 1994, Ahmed Ressam was able to move into a large and thriving Islamic community in Montreal. In May, 1994, hundreds of Montreal muslims filled the Verdun Auditorium to celebrate Ramadan. Ahmed Ressam was not a once a year muslim. He attended religious services almost every Friday in Montreal. He took up residence at this apartment building, 6301 Avenue Malicorne in east Montreal. Canadian and international police have identified this as the Montreal headquarters of a terrorist cell connected to the Osama Bin Laden network and more specifically to an Algerian terrorist organization called the GIA, the armed Islamic group. In these hazy photographs, seized by the RCMP, Ressam is pictured in 1994 at a Montreal wedding with several Algerian men identified as GIA members. Almost all of them had claimed refugee status to enter Canada. In Paris, Judge Jean Louis Briguer is an investigating magistrate, and one of the world's foremost experts in terrorism. He oversaw the arrest of Carlos the Jackal in 1994 and his subsequent prosecution. In the mid 1990s, he turned his attention to the algerian armed Islamic group the GIA.
JUDGE JEAN LOUIS BRIGEUR (Investigating Magistrate): The GIA, as an organization, is the most radical and violent. It began with extortion of foreigners, civilians, and the army...and exported violence out of Algeria to France.
MCKENNA: The first major international terrorist incident involving the GIA was this 1994 hijacking of an air France jet in Marseille. French commandos successfully stormed the plane and gunned down all the hijackers. One-hundred and fifty-nine hostages were freed, seven were killed. French authorities say the hijackers wanted to crash the plane, fully loaded with fuel, into the city of Paris, if possible, into the eiffel tower. What was the significance of the airbus hijacking that ended in Marseille in 1994?
BRIGEUR: IT was the first strong sign of violence being exported. As of 1992, 1993, there was more violence. The first was the CIA asking all foreigners to leave Algeria. They were given a deadline, then action would be taken against them.
MCKENNA: Thirty-six year old Helen Viald of Montreal married Frank Stonebanks of British Columbia on November 29, 1996. Three days later, they were in...