Russian bomber intercepted on eve of Obama visit

[Stan]

ALLAN WOODS

OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA–Canadian fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a Russian bomber discovered on the perimeter of Canadian airspace just hours before U.S. President Barack Obama visited Ottawa last week.

Defence Minister Peter Mackay said it is difficult to say whether Russia was up to "mischief" or whether it was pure coincidence, adding the entire world would have known Canadian security efforts were centred on the capital in the days leading up to Feb. 19.

"It was a strong coincidence," Mackay said.

MacKay is holding a news conference this morning with the chief of the defence staff and the commander of Norad to announce the news.

CF-18s took off from Cold Lake, Alta., on Feb. 16 after Norad detected the bomber headed for Canadian airspace.

The Russian planes were turned back before entering Canada's airspace by fighter jets using "internationally recognized signals."

Mackay said Russian planes have been encroaching on Canadian sovereignty on an "upward scale" in the past several years.

Canada has asked Moscow for advance warning when such trips are scheduled, MacKay said.

"To date we have not been given notice."

Russian aircraft regularly probed into North American airspace during the Cold War and Canadian and American fighters routinely tracked the snoopers and escorted them back into international air space.

Such flights were suspended for years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but resumed in recent years as Russia pushed its claim on the Arctic and oil wealth allowed the country to spend more on its military.

Last summer, then-foreign affairs minister David Emerson said Russian intrusions into Canadian air space had greatly increased.

With files from The Canadian Press

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