Smoke raises behind an Islamic State flag.Reuters
An Ottawa man believed to have joined the Islamic State in Syria is now appearing in a video threatening "indiscriminate" attacks against Canada.
A six-minute video purportedly produced by the IS and posted to the Internet Sunday shows John Maguire, a 23-year-old former Ottawa student, describing the recent killings of two Canadian soldiers as a "direct response" to the mission in Iraq – and threatening further attacks if Canada continues with its air strikes.
"You have absolutely no right to live in a state of safety and security when your country is carrying out atrocities on our people," says Mr. Maguire, who is identified as Abu Anwar al-Canadi in the video. He is believed to use the Twitter name Yahya Maguire, with postings critical of the fighting in Syria, but has not written on the social media site since October, 2012.
A former classmate identified the man in the video as Mr. Maguire.
After the revelation in late summer that RCMP were investigating Mr. Maguire, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said that more than 100 Canadians have left the country to join extremist movements.
"I was one of you. I was a typical Canadian. I grew up on the hockey rink, and spent my teenaged years on stage playing guitar," says Mr. Maguire, before describing his conversion to Islam.
He goes on to accuse the federal government of "eliminating the rights" and waging "crusade" against Muslims.
"Terrorism remains a real and serious threat to Canadians, which is why we must remain vigilant," said Minister of Public Safety Steven Blaney in a statement after the release of the video. "That is why we are taking part in the coalition that is currently conducting air strikes against ISIL, and supporting the security forces in Iraq in their fight against this terrorist scourge."
With a report from The Canadian Press
Ann Hui