A terror expert says reports about Hezbollah's presence in North America are unsubstantiated, and the organization has no reason to attack on Canadian soil.
Alan Bell, an international terror expert and president of the security firm Globe Risk Holdings, told CTV's Canada AM the ABC News report raises questions.
'If CSIS picked up these guys coming from the Middle East, and they're under surveillance, why would a reporter in the U.S. be given that information?"
He says that kind of report would be kept very quiet, "and this individual or these individuals would be being monitored at this particular moment."
Media reports about their arrival and surveillance would easily make any monitoring attempts more than difficult.
Bell says Hezbollah usually works in the Middle East, and they have little reason to attack in Canada as there are far easier targets elsewhere.
The only thing that has changed is that the present Canadian government is more closely aligned with Israel.
But Bell believes, "Canada is an area for Hezbollah for fundraising, recruiting and equipment and forgery of documents, etc., and if they attack inside Canada, there's a pretty good chance they're going to alienate a lot of their supporters."
In addition, Hezbollah would be very reluctant to attack on U.S. soil, as it would be seen as an attack by Iran, and give the U.S. government a reason to retaliate.
Jewish community reacts
One of Canada's best known Jewish groups has reacted with calm detachment to the report that intelligence agencies in the U.S. and Canada fear Hezbollah is poised to attack "Jewish targets" outside the Middle East.
The ABC News report said Hezbollah had conducted surveillance on some Canadian Jewish sites like the Israeli embassy in Ottawa and several synagogues in Toronto.
Bernie Farber, CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, told The Canadian Press that there has been "chatter out there" since the assassination of a Hezbollah leader in February, but authorities have said there is nothing to lead them to believe there is any truth to it.
"Our belief is that our federal authorities have things in hand," Farber said. "They've known about this alleged threat for a while, they've investigated it, and they've told me categorically that while the chatter is out there, and it has been for a while, there is nothing to lead them to believe that there's anything imminent or that in fact the chatter is real."
Farber also said, however, it is better to be on the safe side "so we will ensure that our community institutions are alerted."
"They should keep an eye out, obviously. They should ramp up their security a bit just in case ..."
The ABC News report said U.S. and Canadian intelligence agencies warn of signs Hezbollah, backed by Iran, is poised to mount a strike against "Jewish targets" outside the Middle East.
ABC said intelligence officials told the network that the group has activated suspected "sleeper cells" in Canada and operatives have been tracked moving outside the group's Lebanon base to Canada, Europe and Africa.
Officials say Hezbollah is seeking revenge for the assassination of Hezbollah's military commander, Imad Mugniyah, who was killed by a car bomb in Syria in February. The group's leaders blamed Israel, but Israeli officials denied it.
With files from The Canadian Press
