RCMP jeopardized key informant, CSIS spy says

Ottawa: A Canadian spy who cultivated Sikh informants after the 1985 Air India terrorist attack told an inquiry yesterday that the RCMP cost him his most promising source for identifying the bombers.
Neil Eshleman was a Canadian Security Intelligence Service agent in Vancouver when he met a nervous source identified yesterday as Mr. A, who he felt could help penetrate the Sikh extremist movement. The man wanted his anonymity guaranteed and said he would not testify in court.
But Mr. Eshleman said he was ordered to turn the source over to the RCMP, who insisted they needed to speak to the man directly and sent two officers, unannounced, to Mr. A's home, where he lived with others. The Mounties concluded the man was of no help to their criminal investigation.
Mr. Eshleman said Mr. A had the "single most potential" of any CSIS source related to Air India and Sikh extremism to date.
"It was a lost opportunity that shouldn't have occurred," Mr. Eshleman testified yesterday, describing the events as "exasperating" and "pretty tragic, actually."
The public inquiry into the Air India bombing heard the dramatic story yesterday after several days of negotiations between federal lawyers and the commission. The Department of Justice objected to a public airing of how CSIS and the RCMP handled specific Air India sources, including Mr. A and others who will be discussed this week.
The commission and government lawyers ultimately agreed to release some of the documents and to proceed with public testimony.
15/11/07 Bill Curry/Globe and Mail, Canada

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Categories: Air India - International Nov 2007, Foreign Nov 2007, Safety Nov 2007