Month: July 2020

A former Canadian diplomat has been arrested in  China, amid tensions over the recent detention of a Chinese telecom executive in Vancouver.

"We have been in direct contact with the Chinese diplomats and representatives," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. "We are engaged with the file (case), which we take very seriously."

Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale on Tuesday confirmed the detention of Michael Kovrig.

"We’re deeply concerned," he said. "A Canadian is obviously in difficulty in China. We are sparing no effort to do everything we possibly can to look after his safety."

The International Crisis Group said on Tuesday it was aware of reports that Mr Kovrig, its North East Asia senior adviser, had been detained.

The Brussels-based non-governmental organisation said in a statement that it’s doing everything possible to obtain additional information about Mr Kovrig’s whereabouts and that it will work to ensure his prompt release.

The Globe and Mail in Toronto and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported the arrest, citing unnamed sources.

Reports of Mr Kovrig’s detention come after  China  warned Canada of consequences for its December 1 arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver’s airport. It’s unclear if there’s any link between the cases.

Ms Meng was detained  over US allegations she misled banks about  Huawei’ s control of a firm operating in Iran.

Yesterday (Tues), the Washington Post reported that the US government is to take action against China  over hacking and economic espionage,using sanctions and indictments.

The report could not immediately be confirmed.

The International Crisis Group said Mr Kovrig has been one of its full-time experts since February 2017.

The organisation’s website says Kovrig previously worked as a Canadian diplomat in Beijing and Hong Kong and at the United Nations.

Canada’s Global Affairs department didn’t immediately respond with comment.

Former Canadian Liberal leader Bob Rae said it’s clear why he’s been detained.

"It’s called repression and retaliation," Mr Rae tweeted. 

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Italian police have arrested a 20-year-old Somali man suspected of having been a member of Islamic State and who had threatened to bomb churches in Italy, including St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

They told reporters in the southern city of Bari that the man, identified as Omar Moshin Ibrahim, was detained last Thursday and that a magistrate had charged him on Monday with instigating terrorism and supporting terrorism.

Police said Ibrahim was stopped following a month-long surveillance operation as he was about to leave Bari where he worked for a cleaning company.

The investigation, the police officials said, included wiretaps in which Ibrahim was heard telling someone, "Let’s put bombs in all the churches of Italy. Where is the largest church? It is in Rome."

In another conversation, they said, he was heard praising those who "killed on the path of Allah" and hailing last week’s shooting at the Strasbourg Christmas market in which a gunman killed five people.

Police added that the man used the alias of Anas Khalil and called himself "Yusuf" on social media, and had arrived in Italy in 2016.

He was suspected of having been a militant of Islamic State previously.

Italian police have increased security around churches, including St Peter’s, ahead of Christmas, which draws big crowds to the Vatican area.

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