ABC News reports "intelligence officials" revealed information to them that suggests Lebanon's Hizballah "has activated suspected "sleeper cells" in Canada and key operatives have been tracked moving outside the group's Lebanon base to Canada, Europe and Africa." The unnamed officials argue that such attacks, which could likely target Israeli and/or Jewish targets, are being planned in retaliation for the February assassination of Imad Mughniya in Syria. Hassan Nasrallah blamed Israel for the assassination and suggested Hizballah would retaliate.
However, the FBI issued a statement on the story to the Globe and Mail saying "no specific intelligence about any group or so-called sleeper cells planning an attack." Also, the chief executive of the Toronto-based Canadian Jewish Congress, after talks with Canadian law enforcement officials, came away with the impression that "the threat was thoroughly investigated and dismissed."
Hizballah criminal activity in North America is nothing new, but terrorist attacks on Canadian soil would be surprising. Hizballah has devoted most of its efforts to consolidating power in Lebanon, any terrorist attack in the West would hamper that effort. Although Nasrallah and Iran have blamed Israel for Mughniya's assassination, it's not clear that Israel (which denied any involvement) had anything to do with it. The fact that Syria refuted Iranian claims that there would be a joint Iranian-Syrian investigation into the matter adds more fuel to suspicions of an "inside job."
