The threat, attributed to a member of the al-Qaeda information and strategy committee, condemns Prime Minister Stephen Harper for refusing to pull out of Afghanistan.

It also refers to Canada's "fanatic adherence to Christianity" as well as its purported attempts to "damage the Muslims" and its support for the "Christian Crusade" against al-Qaeda. "Despite the strong, increasing opposition to spread its forces in the fire of South Afghanistan, it seems that they will not learn the lesson easily," Hossam Abdul Raouf writes. "They will either be forced to withdraw their forces or face an operation similar to New York, Madrid, London and their sisters, with the help of Allah."

The document, written in July, was obtained and translated by the SITE Institute, a U.S. non-profit group that monitors terrorist Web sites for clients, many of them in government. It is the second reference in recent weeks to al-Qaeda singling out Canada because of its role in Afghanistan.

Last month, Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, referred to Canadian troops in Kandahar as "second-rate Crusaders." The increasing focus on Canada in jihadist propaganda follows last June's arrest of 17 terrorist suspects in Toronto and comes as Canada is debating its role in NATO-led combat operations in southern Afghanistan. The text of the threat suggests that al-Qaeda is aware of divisions within Canada over the mission, pointing to public opinion polls and opposition within Parliament.

It is also consistent with analysis by Canadian intelligence officials who report that al-Qaeda views Canada as a "priority target" because of the country's high-profile role in Afghanistan and its close relationship with the United States in the war on terrorism. 

"Despite the differences between the Canadian foreign policy and its U.S. counterpart, and despite the hatred the Canadian people harbour towards the Americans -- their bad neighbours who cannot hold back their damage from them -- they agree with them regarding leading the Christian Crusade in Afghanistan and confronting al-Qaeda there," it says. "They use the same excuses that are used by the British and others.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said: 'The Canadians learned from the 9/11 attacks against the U.S. that a terrorist threat can enter into our private borders. The Afghani government wants us there, and we are fighting a truly abominable enemy. This is in our national interest. I believe that what we are doing is extraordinary. We will take a commanding role in the province of Kandahar.' "

The suspected "homegrown" Canadian extremists arrested by the RCMP in Toronto on June 2 were allegedly motivated partly by their anger over Afghanistan. Authorities claim they intended to take hostages on Parliament Hill and kill the Prime Minister unless he withdrew troops from Afghanistan and released all Muslims from Canadian prisons.

The new threat claims Canada is only in Afghanistan to assert itself on the global stage for economic and religious reasons. "Its fanatic adherence to Christianity makes it rush to the financial aid of any issue that will damage the Muslims and strengthen their enemies," the 66-page document claims.

Rita Katz, director of the SITE Institute, said not much was known about the author of the document, Hossam Abdul Raouf, except that he is described as a member of al-Qaeda's information and strategy committee and editor of the electronic periodical Vanguards of Kharasan.

"Abdul Raouf seems to be very knowledgeable in understanding the Western strategy, and in data mining, as demonstrated greatly in this publication," she said. The threat was posted on Arabic-language jihadist Web forums commonly used to disseminate al-Qaeda-related training and propaganda materials. At a conference yesterday, Jim Judd, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said the Internet had "assumed enormous importance" among today's terrorists. "It has in some respects been transformed into a terrorist university, obviating the past need for travel to a conflict zone for 'on-the-job training.' "

He said successful attacks are videotaped and transmitted online and recipes for bombs made of commercially available ingredients are on the Internet as well as tips on what to do when arrested. "It is, as well, developing into a medium of radicalization for many who are inspired by a variety of propaganda tools flowing across it. Inspirational rallying cries from far-flung proponents of terrorism or videos of attacks on military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere circulate freely."

The "ideology of al-Qaeda" remains today's principal terrorist threat, he said, adding last August's plots to bomb passenger planes over the Atlantic are a "dramatic reminder" that terrorists remain capable of mounting attacks on the scale of 9/11.

Speaking at the Canadian Association of Security and Intelligence Studies conference in Ottawa, the intelligence chief said that because of the cross-border nature of the threat, CSIS needs to ramp up its operations overseas. "While we have had personnel operating abroad for some time, it is obvious that we need to further build our capacity to function outside Canada more effectively," Mr. Judd said.

Sir Richard Dearlove, who served as chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service until 2004, urged Canada to set up a foreign intelligence agency within the next decade. Although Canada does not have a foreign spy service, CSIS is allowed to collect national security intelligence overseas and has been increasingly active abroad, in countries such as Afghanistan.

sbell@nationalpost.com