JOURNALISM EXPERIENCE

THE VANCOUVER PROVINCE: JUNE 1983 – Jan.  31, 2009.

  • Uncovered a Sikh separatist group in Vancouver which was intent on creating havoc in India. Traveled to New Delhi in early 1984 to continue the investigation of separatists and the turmoil caused by them prior to the invasion of the Golden Temple by Indian troops. Wrote a feature upon return which warned of grave danger to Mrs. Gandhi and the risk of increased conflict.
  • Led the way nationally with ground breaking stories and investigative accounts on the worst case of aviation bombing in world history – 329 lives were tragically lost in the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in June 1985. A bomb boarded in Vancouver also killed two Japanese baggage handlers.
  • Covered the 1989 extradition hearing of bomber Inderjit Singh Reyat at Bow Street Magistrate’s Court in London, England.
  • Wrote ground breaking pieces for The Province and ABC News New York which put national and international spotlight on Millennium Bomber Ahmed Ressam. Investigative accounts (1999 to 2005) shed light on Ressam’s training at a Bin Laden camp in Afghanistan and the dangerous lessons he was taught. First to report that Ressam warned the U.S. two months prior to 9/11 that bin Laden was planning to attack several U.S cities.
  • Covered the trial of Ahmed Ressam in Los Angeles and his conviction on charges of plotting terrorism. This effort won the Law Society of BC First Award for excellence in legal writing and was presented at the Jack Webster Awards.
  • Hundreds of front line stories on crime and terrorism and the victims of crime and terrorism. Wrote articles for Toronto Star, National Post, India Today and The New York Post. Numerous radio and television appearances on issues dealing with the Air India bombing, national security and the U.S intervention in Iraq and its implications.

ABC NEWS I-Team Consultant

I was a consultant to ABC NEWS New York on issues related to terrorism and national security. I covered US and Canada based terrorist groups and their infrastructure for the ABC NEWS I-Team. We carried out investigations  in Portland, San Francisco, San Jose, Phoenix, Seattle, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Toronto and Vancouver:

  • Probed the recruitment of San Francisco area youth John Walker Lindh by the Taliban.
  • Investigated the activities of Aly Mohammed As Saud, convicted for his role in the East African Embassy bombings. Mohammed was a double-agent who pulled the wool over his FBI handlers while actively pursuing terrorism for his real master, Osama bin Laden. Mohammed had close ties to Essam Hafez Marzouk who lived in Vancouver. Marzouk participated in the EA embassy bombings but fled from Canada leaving behind his wife and child. Marzouk is currently in a prison in Egypt.
  • Investigated fund raising trips to the United States by Bin Laden’s second-in-command Ayman Zawaheri in Sacramento and San Jose. Assisted producers in securing on-camera interviews with those who hosted Zawaheri and gave him donations. The money was subsequently used to blow up the Egyptian embassy in Pakistan.
  • Investigated a terrorist cell run from a prison in California by Sheikh Sudani. The team was intercepted before Jewish and US targets were attacked. Interviewed the Imam of the Folsom Prison and the Emir of the largest mosque in Sacramento. (August 2005.)
  • Carried out investigations of several teams of terrorists in Portland and in Seattle. (2001-2003.)
  • Visited flight training schools near Phoenix, Arizona to investigate how terrorists plotting the 9/11 disaster got into American Flight Schools and went undetected. Investigated suicide pilot Hani Hanjour and his associates. (Oct. 2001)
  • In June 2006 interviewed Dr. Aly Hindi and other Muslim leaders and scholars and carried out an investigation of the Toronto 17. Worked in Toronto, Pickering, Mississauga and Scarborough to learn about the recruitment of the group of youngsters by a single fanatic who convinced them that Canadian troops were raping women in Afghanistan.

1976 to 1983

  • Covered municipal and provincial politics for The White Rock Sun. First full-time job for a Canadian newspaper.
  • Covered crime and politics for The Columbian Daily Newspaper in New Westminster.
  • Chief crime reporter for The Edmonton Sun.
  • Researched and reported for the BCTV’s evening news program “The News Hour.”
  • Worked for the Abbotsford News.
  • Worked at Vancouver Sun in early 1983 and then took a full time position at its sister paper The Province.