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Terrorism suspect a Concordia grad

Received bachelor of finance in '02. U.S. officials contend Hammoud and others planned to kill thousands in New York


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Undated photo released by the Hammoud family in Lebanon of terrorism suspect Assem Hammoud with his friends in Canada.

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KATHERINE WILTON, The Gazette

Published: Monday, July 10, 2006
The man suspected of being the mastermind behind a plot to blow up tunnels in New York City graduated from Concordia University with a bachelor of commerce in finance in 2002, a university official confirmed yesterday.

Assem Hammoud was an international student at the university from 1995 to 2002. He majored in finance and had a minor in international business, university spokesperson Chris Mota said.

Mota said she knows little else about his time at Concordia.

"I have been at the university since 1993 and the name means absolutely nothing to me," Mota said yesterday. "We had to look him up in the system to confirm that he was here."

Hammoud, 31, a Lebanese national, was detained in Beirut in April and interrogated by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. officials contend Hammoud and a group of seven others conspired to kill thousands of people by sending suicide bombers into tunnels under the Hudson River that transport commuters into Manhattan. They say the group had hoped to carry out the attacks on the Holland Tunnel in October and November.

Hammoud taught economics at Lebanese International University in Beirut before his arrest.

U.S. and Lebanese officials unravelled the plan by monitoring Internet chat rooms used by Islamic extremists - long before any members of the group tried to secure financing or explosives, the newspaper Long Island Newsday reported yesterday.

A Beirut TV station reported Hammoud was recruited into Al-Qa'ida while he was in Canada.

Hammoud's mother, Nabila Qotob, told reporters in Lebanon that her son visited a girlfriend in Canada.

After being accepted by Concordia as an international student, based on his academic record, Hammoud would still have had to seek permission from the provincial and federal governments to study here, Mota said. "They only get a visa after being accepted by the university."

A prominent member of Montreal's Muslim community said yesterday he led prayers at the university mosque during the period in question and does not recall Hammoud or anyone who looked like him.

"I don't remember him at all," said Salam Elmenyawi, of the Muslim Council of Montreal.

Elmenyawi said he's frustrated with U.S. efforts to blame Canada for terrorist activity south of the border. "The United States has unfairly targeted Canada as a source of terrorism," he said.

The New York Times quoted a counterterrorism expert as saying "these are bad guys in Canada and a bad guy in Lebanon talking, but it never advanced beyond that."

"They never were in New York, they never were in the States, the never got materials together. So in that regard, it's less serious than some of the others. Until you get materials together, it's ... in the speculative stage."

Newsday and Canadian Press contributed to this report

kwilton@thegazette.canwest.com

FengFan

You can find more than 10 universities in U.S. called Concordia University. How are you sure it is Montreal's Concordia U.?

普罗旺斯

Post by FengFan
You can find more than 10 universities in U.S. called Concordia University. How are you sure it is Montreal's Concordia U.?

今天METRO上都刊登这消息了！