Al-Qaida threatens Canada’s oil facilities

Al-Qaida has called for terrorist strikes against Canadian oil and natural gas facilities to “choke the U.S. economy.”

An online message, posted Thursday by a the Al-Qaida Organization in the Arabian Peninsula, declares “we should strike petroleum interests in all areas which supply the United States like Canada,” the No. 1 exporter of oil and gas to the U.S.

The same group, the Saudi arm of Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network, claimed responsibility for last February’s attack on the world’s largest oil processing facility at Abqaiq in Saudi Arabia’s eastern province.
The message is contained in Sawt al-Jihad (Voice of Jihad), the group’s online magazine.

A feature article, entitled Bin Laden’s Oil Weapon, encourages operatives to continue to follow earlier directives from bin Laden to strike oil targets not only in Saudi Arabia, but elsewhere, according to a translation by the SITE Institute, a non-profit U.S. group that monitors terrorist websites.

Three western countries are mentioned in the call-to-arms — Canada first, followed by Mexico and Venezuela. Would-be attackers are instructed to specifically target oilfields, pipelines, loading platforms and carriers.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said Tuesday it was aware of the posting, as is Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada.

Canada.com