AG Gonzales meets Canadian officials

WASHINGTON, May 18 (UPI) -- U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales met Wednesday with Canadian officials in Ottawa to discuss border security and law enforcement.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Gonzales met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Anne McLellan and with Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Irwin Cotler.

The discussion included "border security and law enforcement initiatives, such as the Cross-Border Crime Forum and trafficking in persons," the department said in a statement.

The possibility Canada might be used as a base to plan and organize attacks against its neighbor to the south has long troubled U.S. officials.

"Intelligence reports indicate that terrorist groups locate in Canada in part because of Canada's liberal visa and asylum laws and the country's proximity to the United States," Inspector General of the Justice Department Michael Bromwich told Congress in 1999.

Later that year, Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian who had sought asylum in Canada, was arrested attempting to enter the United States with ingredients for a bomb he planned to use to attack Los Angeles International Airport.