I am a geek, world history buff, my interests and hobbies are too numerous to mention. I'm a political junkie with a cynical view.
I also love law & aviation!
Mikhail Lennikov has been living here for 12 years
Evan Kelly VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) | Saturday, June 6th, 2009 10:34 am
Mikhail Lennikov took sanctuary in a Vancouver church earlier this week (News1130 Photo)
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - New numbers from Angus Reid find 41 per cent of Canadians disagree with Immigration Canada's decision to deport a former KGB Agent who's taking refuge in a Vancouver church. That number rises to 55 per cent in British Columbia.
Mikhail Lennikov was ordered out of the country after Immigration Canada deemed him a threat to Canadian security. However, almost half of those polled across the country believe Lennikov possesses no threat. Lennikov has been living in Canada with his family for the past 12 years and took refuge in the First Lutheran Church in south Vancouver.
Another key finding in the poll is most Canadians disagree with the practice of taking sanctuary in a church.
OTTAWA–Canada's spy agency, CSIS, has ordered a wholesale review of all five security certificate cases after a Federal Court judge slammed the spooks for withholding lie detector results that cast doubt on a human source key to the effort to deport Mohamed Harkat.
In a scramble to restore its credibility in the face of a tougher line coming from the Federal Court on Harkat and several other national security cases, CSIS advised in a letter the mistake was "inexcusable."
The agency says it is taking several steps to allay any doubts about the "integrity" of its evidence or its employees.
"The Service is resolute in its determination to restore judicial confidence in (CSIS) integrity and credibility," lawyer Michael Duffy, senior general counsel for CSIS, wrote in a letter addressed to Federal Court chief justice Alan Lutfy.
CSIS says "the incident ...is a matter of profound concern to the Service" especially given its obligation to present the court with a "frank view of the human source."
The federal government alleges Harkat and four other men are threats to national security, and is using extraordinary immigration warrants that permit secret evidence to be used against them in deportation proceedings.
In the Harkat case, CSIS now admits it should have disclosed negative polygraph test resultsfrom 2002 and 2008 about a male source whose "loyalty to the Service" was considered suspect.
In an edited version of a letter sent to the court, CSIS indicates an independent review of the polygraph charts determined the source "was truthful when stating he was not involved with other agencies and militant organizations" — in other words,not a mole or double agent.
The new developments come just as the government was to have begun its final hearings against Harkat this week. Those have now been postponed indefinitely.
Among other moves, CSIS says it is:
• Conducting an "exhaustive review" of the files on all human sources related to the five high-profile security certificate cases to see if any other omissions were made.
It acknowledged the omission in Harkat raises questions about whether the same has happened in the cases of the other four Muslim men subject to similar secret proceedings: Mahmoud Jaballah, Mohamed Mahjoub, Hassan Almrei, or Adil Charkaoui.
• Taking the unusual step of approaching foreign intelligence agencies to seek consent to release more information to the court-appointed special advocates responsible for challenging the government's secret case against Harkat in particular. That evidence, however, would not be shared with Harkat.
• Creating more "checks and balances" within CSIS — adding more layers of legal review and challenge — to make sure all relevant information on a human source file is disclosed, including information that undermines the credibility of its case.
• Assigning a senior CSIS manager to a "fact-finding review" to determine what went wrong and to report to the court.
The moves were outlinedin documents released today by Justice Simon Noel, who is overseeing the Harkat case.
Last week, it was Noel who revealed the stunning admission by CSIS that it had not been entirely forthright with the court. This week, he suggested the watchdogs of CSIS — including the Inspector General or SIRC, the Security Intelligence Review Committee — should review whether the original judge on the case, Justice Eleanor Dawson, was similarly left in the dark on the Harkat matter.
Justice Noel said he will recall three CSIS witnesses, and possibly more, to explain the agency's actions.
Because evidence is heard in courtrooms closed to the men or their lawyers, Noel had repeatedly advised CSIS of the need to act in the "utmost good faith" — an obligation CSIS said it takes seriously.
"The failure to include relevant information...was inexcusable and is a matter of profound concern to the service," wrote CSIS lawyer Michael Duffy.
"It belies the commitment of the service and its employees to the judicial process and their respect for the fundamental legal principles" referred to by Noel, he said.
Abousfian Abdelrazik, seen in this undated family photo, has been living in the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum for the last year. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)
The Federal Court of Canada on Thursday ordered the federal government to allow the return of a Montreal man stranded in Sudan for six years as an al-Qaeda suspect, ruling his charter rights have been breached.
Abousfian Abdelrazik, 47, was arrested and detained while visiting his mother in Sudan in 2003 and for the last year has been living in the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum.
Both the RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service have cleared Abdelrazik of any terrorist connections, but the Conservative government refuses to issue him travel documents to return home because his name was added to a UN Security Council list banning travel for terrorist suspects.
His lawyers successfully argued the government has violated his right to mobility under Section 6 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In his decision, Federal Court Judge Russell Zinn wrote that Abdelrazik is a "prisoner in a foreign land" and "as much a victim of international terrorism as the innocent persons whose lives have been taken by recent barbaric acts of terrorists."
He ordered the government to facilitate Abdelrazik's return within 30 days.
"I find that Mr. Abdelrazik is entitled to an appropriate remedy which, in the unique circumstances of his situation, requires that the Canadian government take immediate action so that Mr. Abdelrazik is returned to Canada," Zinn wrote.
Zinn also said CSIS was "complicit" in Abdelrazik's detention by Sudanese authorities six years ago.
During Thursday's question period in the House of Commons, the Liberals and NDP called upon the government to honour the court's order and repatriate Abdelrazik immediately.
Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae told the House that Zinn's decision on Abdelrazik's case raised a serious question over the Harper government's adherence to the rule of law.
Justice Department to review decision: Nicholson
"I'd like to ask the minister a very simple question: will he now change the decision of the government of Canada and recognize him as a citizen of Canada?" Rae asked.
New Democrat Foreign MP Libby Davies called the government's handling of the case a "national disgrace" and urged the Tories not to waste more time by appealing the decision.
"The reality is this government did everything it could to keep this innocent Canadian stranded in Sudan," Davies said.
Speaking for the government, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said government lawyers would need time to review the 107-page decision before deciding its course of action.
"It's being carefully studied by the Department of Justice, Mr. Speaker, and after we've had an opportunity to review the advice from the Department of Justice, we'll take action," Nicholson said.
Calling his case "complex," Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon has previously said Abdelrazik must get himself removed from the United Nations blacklist before he can return to Canada.
In his decision, Zinn said the government's claim that Abdelrazik couldn't fly to Canada due to his inclusion on the UN blacklist was actually "no impediment" to his repatriation.
Canadian media reports have quoted UN officials as saying Canada can repatriate Abdelrazik any time it wishes, whether or not his name is on the UN list.
Last week, a parliamentary foreign affairs committee passed a unanimous motion calling on the federal government to allow Abdelrazik to return to Ottawa to testify before MPs.
His lawyers have said several groups, including the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Canadian Postal Workers Union, have already bought him a plane ticket and have offered to accompany him on his journey back to Canada
On the nights of 12 and 14 June 1950, two Air France Douglas DC-4s (registration F-BBDE and F-BBDM, respectively) crashed into the sea off Bahrain while landing, with a combined loss of 86 lives. The first accident claimed the lives of 40 of the 53 occupants and the second 46 out of 52. Both aircraft had operated the Karachi, Pakistan, to Bahrain portion of Air France's Saigon, Vietnam - Paris sector. The accident investigators concluded that the pilot in command did not maintain his correct altitude until the runway lights became visible during the approach to Bahrain in the first accident, and that the pilot in command did not keep an accurate check of his altitude and rate of descent during the approach procedure in the second accident.[50]
On 3 February 1951, a Douglas DC-4 (registration F-BBDO) operating Air France's Douala, Cameroon, to Niamey, Niger, sector hit the 13,354 feet high Cameroon Mountain near Bouea, Cameroon, west of Douala, at a height of 8,500 feet (2,600 m). The aircraft was destroyed, killing all 29 occupants. The mountain was probably only partially visible from the flight deck due to the mist surrounding it. Although the pilot immediately turned to the left, the plane hit the steeply rising terrain with its left wing. The accident investigators concluded that the crew followed an inaccurate procedure and relied on imprecise navigation. The investigators furthermore determined that the crew did not check the draft. Moreover, they cited the crew's error of judgement and over-confidence when flying over the mountain mass as additional contributory factors.[51]
On 3 March 1952, a SNCASE Languedoc (registration F-BCUM) operating a passenger flight from Nice Le Var Airport to Paris Le Bourget Airport crashed shortly after takeoff with the loss of all 38 lives on board. Soon after takeoff from Le Var Airport, the aircraft began banking to the left. This increased progressively until the aircraft flipped over on its back and crashed. The accident investigators attributed the accident to the aircraft's blocked ailerons to the left, as a result of a mechanical fault related to the design.[52]
On 29 April 1952, a Douglas C-54A (registration F-BELI) operating a German internal service from Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport to Berlin Tempelhof Airport came under attack from two SovietMiG 15fighters while passing through one of the Allied air corridors over East Germany. Although the attack had severely damaged the plane, necessitating the shutdown of engines three and four, the pilot landed safely at West Berlin's Tempelhof Airport. An inspection of the aircraft at Tempelhof revealed that it had been hit by 89 shots fired from the Soviet MiGs during the air attack. There were no fatalities among the 17 occupants (six crew, eleven passengers). The Soviet military authorities defended this attack on a civilian aircraft by claiming the Air France plane was outside the air corridor at the time of attack.[53]
On 1 September 1953, a Lockheed L-749A Constellation (registration F-BAZZ) operating the Paris-Nice portion of a passenger flight to Hong Kong crashed into Mount Cemet, France, with the loss of all 42 lives on board. The accident occurred while the flight deck crew was preparing to land at Nice's Côte d'Azur airport, the aircraft's first scheduled stop. The accident investigation established "controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)" as the cause.[54]
On 8 April 1957, a Douglas C-47B (registration F-BEIK) operating an Algerian passenger flight from Biskra lost height after takeoff and crashed a mile beyond the airport's runway with the loss of all 34 lives on board.[55]
On 31 May 1958, a Douglas C-47A (registration F-BHKV) operating a non-scheduled Algerian passenger flight from Algiers to Colomb-Béchard crashed near Molière with the loss of all 15 lives on board.[56]
On 10 May 1961, a Lockheed L-1649A Starliner (registration F-BHBM) operating the Fort Lamy (now N'Djamena), Chad, to Marseille Marignane portion of Air France's Brazzaville, Congo - Paris sector as flight AF406 crashed in the Sahara desert near Edjele, Algeria, with the loss of all 78 lives on board. The aircraft was cruising at an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,100 m) when its empennage failed. This caused it to break up in flight and crash in the Sahara desert. The accident investigators believed that the empennage separated from the rest of the aircraft as a result of the detonation of a nitrocelluloseexplosive device.[58]
On 12 September 1961, a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III (registration F-BJTB) operating the Paris Orly-Rabat-Casablanca sector as flight AF2005 crashed near Rabat's Sale Airport with the loss of all 77 lives on board. At the time of the accident meteorological conditions in the local area were thick, low fog. The poor weather conditions reduced horizontal visibility and ceiling. The pilot informed ATC that he wanted to attempt a break-through over the NDB. The aircraft was destroyed by fire when it impacted the ground, killing everyone on board. The accident investigators cited the commander's error in reading his instruments as the most likely cause.[59]
On 3 June 1962, a chartered Boeing 707-328 (registration F-BHSM), Chateau de Sully, flying from Orly Airport, Paris, France, to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, Atlanta, USA, crashed at Orly during takeoff. 130 out of 132 people on board were killed. Two flight attendants sitting in the rear section of the aircraft were saved. The investigation found a faulty servo motor, which had led to an improper (and non-adjustable) elevator trim. Brake marks measuring 1,500 feet (457 m) were found on the runway, indicating that the flight deck crew tried to abort takeoff. The aircraft rolled right while only seven feet (two m) from the ground, causing its right wing to hit the ground. It crashed 50 yards (45 m) from the runway and exploded.[60] Of the passengers 106 were Atlanta art patrons who had finished a tour of European capitals. Ann Uhry Abrams, the author of Explosion at Orly: The True Account of the Disaster that Transformed Atlanta, described the incident as "Atlanta’s version of Sept. 11 in that the impact on the city in 1962 was comparable to New York of Sept. 11." This was the deadliest crash in Air France history until the crash of Air France Flight 447. [61]
On 22 June 1962, Air France flight 117, operated with a Boeing 707-328 (registration F-BHST), crashed into a forest on a hill at an altitude of about 4,000 feet (1,200 m) during bad weather, while attempting to land at Point-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, West Indies, killing all 113 on board. The aircraft was attempting a non-precision NDB approach. A malfunctioning VOR station and poor NDB reception due to thunderstorms were blamed for the accident. The airframe had acculumated only 985 hours of flying at the time of the accident. [62]
On 6 March 1968, a Boeing 707-328C (registration F-BLCJ) operating the Caracas-Point-à-Pitre sector of Air France flight 212 hit the southern slope of La Soufrière Mountain at an altitude of 3,937 feet, 27.5 km SSW of Le Raizet Airport with the loss of all 63 lives on board. When ATC had cleared the flight deck crew for a visual approach to Le Raizet's runway 11, the crew had reported the airfield in sight. Flight 212 started to descend from FL90 and passed Saint Claude at an altitude of about 4,400 feet (1,300 m). The accident investigators cited the probable cause as a visual approach procedure at night in which the descent was begun from an incorrectly identified point. Charlie Juliet had flown for 33 hours since coming off the Boeing production line, and was on her second revenue service (her maiden passenger flight was the previous day's outbound journey from Paris).[63]
On 11 September 1968, a Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle III (registration F-BOHB) operating the Ajaccio, Corsica - Nice sector as flight AF1611 crashed into the sea near Cap d'Antibes off Nice with the loss of all 95 lives on board. The accident occurred while the flight deck crew attempted an emergency landing at Côte d'Azur Airport, following the detection of a fire in the aircraft's rear cabin 21 minutes after takeoff from Ajaccio. The accident investigators believed that the fire had started in the right lavatory and galley area.[64]
On 4 December 1969, a Boeing 707-328B (registration F-BHSZ) operating the Caracas-Point-à-Pitre sector of Air France flight 212 crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff from Simon Bolivar International Airport with the loss of all 62 on board.[65]
On 12 June 1975, a Boeing 747-128 (registration N28888) operating the sector between Bombay (now Mumbai), India, and Tel Aviv, Israel, of flight AF193 to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport was destroyed by fire on the ground at Bombay's Santa Cruz Airport, following an aborted takeoff. The aircraft's tyre on its right-hand main undercarriage had failed while the flight deck crew was executing a 180 degree turn at the beginning of Santa Cruz Airport's runway 27. When the flight deck crew began its takeoff run, another tyre failed. At that point the plane's wheels and braking assembly came into contact with the runway, starting a fire. The crew aborted takeoff. The ensuing delay in shutting down the engines, as well as the improper deployment of the airport's fire service, caused the fire to spread, leading to the plane's total destruction. There were no fatalities among the 394 occupants (18 crew and 376 passengers).[66]
Operation Entebbe: On 27 June 1976, an Airbus A300 (registration F-BVGG) operating flight AF139 from Tel Aviv to Paris via Athens was hijacked shortly after departing Athens. After refuelling in Benghazi, Libya, the hijackers demanded it be flown to Entebbe, Uganda. One hostage was freed in Benghazi and in Uganda another 155 non-Israeli and/or non-Jewish hostages were released. The flight crew remained with the hostages after Captain Bacos insisted he was responsible for them. After several days of negotiating and diplomatic interventions, Israel launched a commando raid into Entebbe to free them. During the assault all six of the hijackers were killed as were three hostages. The leader of the assault was also killed. One hostage was unaccounted for. She had been taken to Mulago Hospital prior to the assault and later killed on Idi Amin's orders.[citation needed]
On 18 January 1984, an explosion in the cargo hold of a Boeing 747 en route from Karachi, Pakistan, to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, shortly after departing Karachi blew a hole in the right rear cargo hold. The resulting loss of cabin pressure necessitated an immediate descent to 5,000 feet (1,500 m). The aircraft returned to Karachi without any fatalities among the 261 occupants (15 crew and 246 passengers).[67]
On 26 June 1988, Air France flight 296, Airbus A320-111 (registration F-GFKC) crashed near the airfield of Mulhouse Habsheim, in the Franco-German border region of Alsace. The accident occurred during an airshow while the flight deck crew was performing a flypast at low height and speed. The aircraft overflew the airfield in good weather. Seconds later the aircraft struck treetops behind the runway and crashed into a forest, as a result of flying too low and too slow. Three passengers died and about 50 were injured.[68]
On 24 December 1994, Air France flight 8969, an Airbus A300B2-1C (registration F-GBEC) was hijacked in Houari Boumedienne Airport in Algiers, Algeria, by four terrorists who belonged to the Armed Islamic Group. The terrorists apparently intended to crash the plane over the Eiffel Tower on Boxing Day. After a failed attempt to leave Marseille following a confrontational firefight between the terrorists and the GIGN French Special Forces, the result was the death of all four terrorists. (Snipers on the terminal front's roof shot dead two of the terrorists. The other two terrorists died as a result of gunshots in the cabin after approximately 20 minutes.) Three hostages including a Vietnamese diplomat were executed, 229 hostages survived, many of them wounded by shrapnel. The almost 15-year-old aircraft was written off.[citation needed]
On 5 September 1996, turbulence caused injuries to three passengers on a Boeing 747 in mid-air near Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. One died later from injuries received from an in-flight film projection screen. [69][70]
On 5 March 1999, an ex-UTA Boeing 747-2B3F (SCD) freighter (registration F-GPAN) carrying a revenue load of 66 tons of cargo on flight AF6745 from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Madras Meenambakkam, India, via Karachi, Pakistan and Bangalore HAL Airport, India, crash-landed, caught fire and burned out. Meenambakkam ATC had cleared the aircraft for an ILS approach to the airport's runway 07. The crew abandoned the approach due to technical difficulties. The aircraft circled to attempt a second approach. At the end of the second approach, the aircraft's nose struck the runway while touching down because its nose gear was either not down or not locked. The plane skidded and came to rest 7,000 feet (2,100 m) down the 13,050 ft. runway. After it had come to a standstill, the crew noticed smoke on the flight deck and began to extinguish the flames. Soon after, flames erupted in the aircraft's front section. One crew member managed to escape from the flight deck via a rope ladder. The remaining four crew members were rescued by the airport fire service from the rear, before the flames engulfed the entire aircraft. The fire service was unable to extinguish the fire and the aircraft burned out.[73][74]
On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde (registration F-BTSC) charter departing from De Gaulle airport in Paris bound for New York's JFK Airport crashed in to a hotel just after takeoff in Gonesse, France. All 109 people on board died, along with four people on the ground. According to the accident investigation report, the probable cause was the destruction of one of the aircraft's main wheel tires, as a result of passing at high speed over a part lost by a pre-departing DC-10 during the takeoff run. The piercing of one of the fuel tanks by a piece of the exploding tire ignited the leaking jet fuel and caused a loss of thrust in engine number one and two in quick succession.[75]
On 2 August 2005, Air France Flight 358, an Airbus A340-300 (registration F-GLZQ) overshot the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport during a thunderstorm. The plane continued for 300 metres before coming to rest at the bottom of a ravine at the end of the runway adjacent to Highway 401. All 297 passengers and 12 crew survived but the plane was completely destroyed by fire. The investigation predominately blamed pilot error when faced with the severe weather conditions. Class action law suits over the incident are ongoing.[citation needed]
(1) 
Abousfian Abdelrazik, seen in this undated family photo, has been living in the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum for the last year. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)
