- U.S. security agents have a master list of five million
people worldwide thought to be potential terrorists or criminals, officials
say. "The U.S. lookout index contains some five million names of known
terrorists and other persons representing a potential problem," Brian
Davis, a senior Canadian immigration official in Paris, said in a confidential
document obtained by the Sun.
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- Names on the list are compared against those applying
for visas or on flights travelling to the U.S.
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- Anyone whose name is on the list is questioned or banned
from entering the U.S. -- as passengers were on two British Airways flights
to Los Angeles two weeks ago.
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- The master list was revealed by U.S. embassy officials
to a Canadian standing immigration committee in April 2002. Its existence
was revealed in Davis' document, obtained by Montreal lawyer Richard Kurland
through an Access to Information request.
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- Davis said Canadian visa officers abroad do not keep
an extensive list like the U.S. because terrorists can use bogus documents
and change their identities.
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- "We examine each application according to profiles,"
he said. "(We) apply experience and knowledge gained from a variety
of sources. Canada's approach to identifying persons who may pose a danger
was as sound as possible."
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- CSIS agents in Paris send a "brief" to Ottawa
for cases that require more in-depth investigation.
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- Copyright © 2004, CANOE, a division of Netgraphe
Inc.All rights reserved.
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- http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2004/01/20/318488.html
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