EDITORIAL: Unreliable sources

Is Abu Zubaydah really "one of Osama Bin Laden's top lieutenants," as he was described in a decision of Canada's Federal Court? Or is he a mentally disturbed, low-level al-Qaeda errand boy whose evidence was extracted by torture, as he's described in a new book by journalist Ron Suskind? Abu Zubaydah is one of the known accusers of Mohamed Harkat, the Ottawa man now out on bail after being detained for the last three and a half years as a suspected terrorist. The other accuser is the Algerian government -- the government Mr. Harkat once opposed. Mr. Suskind's book, The One Percent Doctrine, describes Abu Zubaydah's capture in March 2002. During interrogations that included simulated drowning and beating, Mr. Suskind writes, Abu Zubaydah spilled information. Some of it was useful, some not. In 2005, the Federal Court of Canada decided that it was reasonable to detain Mr. Harkat. The court said the Canadian Security Intelligence Service learned from a foreign agency that Abu Zubaydah had fingered Mr. Harkat -- by his "physical description and his activities" -- as the operator of a guest house for terrorists. It's possible that Canadian authorities also have strong independent evidence against Mr. Harkat. It is also possible Abu Zubaydah was telling the truth about Mr. Harkat. But it is also possible that the ravings of a desperate man were recklessly taken at face value by Canadian intelligence. Mr. Suskind's book illustrates the dangers of relying on the intelligence of a foreign intelligence service, especially if it gathers evidence through dubious means. If we're going to lock people up or deport them, we need solid intelligence of our own. © 2006 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.. All rights reserved.