As Islamic religious leaders in Calgary revealed they’ve had to dissuade some young Muslims from joining radical militants in the Middle East, the city’s police chief warns conflict in the region will spur an increase in local extremism.

Muslim Council of Calgary chairman Mohammed Sabbah said imams at several of the group’s centres have fielded questions from young men about joining rebel forces, many linked to terrorist group al-Qaeda, fighting the Syrian government.

“To my understanding it did happen and imams did act right on the spot,” said Sabbah.

“Usually the question is … ‘What about if I go and fight in Syria? What do you think?’ They talk with the individual and explain (to) him this is not the right thing to do.”

Such incidents were not reported to authorities, Sabbah said, as an inquiry did not demonstrate radical intent.

“I could ask the question, it doesn’t mean I have the intention to go there. Sometimes people are just curious when they ask this question. Some people just want to know the answer from the religious point of view.”

The council worked with the Calgary Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to identify and monitor any local extremists, Sabbah said.

“(CSIS) talk to us from time to time. Sometimes there’s some concern and they want us to be wary (if) something might happen.”

Calgary has been shaken by the violent deaths of two former residents in the Middle East. Damian Clairmont, 22, was killed in Syria, likely in December or January, while reportedly fighting alongside a group of al-Qaida-affiliated rebels in the country’s civil war. This month it emerged Pakistani-born Salman Ashrafi, who grew up in Calgary, was part of a suicide bomb attack in Iraq in November 2013 which killed 46 people.

Calgary police Chief Rick Hanson said fresh violence abroad meant Islamic extremism in Calgary and Canada would become a bigger problem.

“This is an issue that’s not going away and in the near future will continue to grow. You look at what’s happening in the Middle East right now, the latest events in Iraq, and (militant Islamic group Boko Haram) in Nigeria. That’s going to have an impact in Canada without a doubt.”

Hanson said Calgary police were working with a Muslim group in the city to identify possible extremists by encouraging members of the Islamic community to report concerns.

Carleton University professor and member of the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society Jez Littlewood said the Syrian conflict had been a “magnet” for western Islamic radicals.

“What’s interesting in the Syrian case is the narrative is it’s going to defend the Muslims against (Syrian president Bashar al Assad’s) regime and it’s in the defence of women and children. An important part of that narrative, which appears to be galvanizing western foreign fighters, is that western democracies have not intervened.”

Potential militants were often radicalized in groups, rather than individually, he said.

“Certainly in 2010 the propaganda call … to individuals from western democracies was ‘bring a friend.’ You’re going to a country where the living is hard, you probably don’t speak the language, you certainly won’t be used to what’s expected of you, so having somebody you know there and you can reinforce and support each other, (it) was considered to be more likely that people would stay.”

Clairmont, Ashrafi and several other radicals have been revealed to have been living in the same Calgary apartment building and praying at the mosque before heading to the Middle East. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) estimates about 30 Canadian nationals are fighting in Syria, with about 100 others connected to radical causes in other Muslim countries.

Apprehending radicals before they left Canada was tricky, Littlewood said.

“We’re trying to pre-empt an act of violence. What’s the scale of evidence where this person actively intended to and was planning to conduct this act of violence? You need some solid evidence for that. It makes the task more difficult for the authorities in some cases.”

With files from Clara Ho

mwright@calgaryherald.com