The break-in was reported to police Saturday afternoon after Imam Solaiman and a friend went to change an old roll of film in his fax machine. They found, however, that the machine's roll of film was brand new and improperly installed.
"We found new film, untouched, unused," he said in an interview yesterday.
With his suspicions raised, Mr. Solaiman looked for signs of a break-in and said he found the chain on his back door dislodged from the frame. He then called police.
"It seems somebody came in through the back door, took the film from the machine, and put a new one in," he said. "Nothing was missing from the office except the film. So we are puzzled."
The office, located on the ground floor of a building next door to the central mosque on Northwestern Avenue, contained a portable computer and other equipment. All of it was untouched.
Mr. Solaiman lives upstairs from the office, but did not hear any unusual sounds over the past few days.
He said he believes someone took the film, which records an imprint of all incoming faxes, to investigate his correspondence. "It raises a question mark about who has done this and why. But I have no answer for that," he said.
Asked whether he believes Canada's spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, was responsible, Mr. Solaiman said: "Under the circumstances, everything is possible.
"I see no reason why CSIS or any other agency would keep me in mind," he said. "But in the circumstances, in this atmosphere where everyone is frightened, everything is possible."
A spokeswoman for CSIS, however, insisted yesterday that it does not break the law investigating threats to the nation's security.
Chantal Lapalme, although unable to comment directly on the alleged break-in at the central mosque, said the agency and its employees abide by the law. "If he (Mr. Solaiman) feels there was a break-in, he should contact the police," Ms. Lapalme said.
Const. Michelle Sears took a report on the incident for the Ottawa police, but she could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Mr. Solaiman provoked a public outcry in late September when he suggested that the terrorist acts of Sept. 11 could not have been committed by Arabs since they lack the necessary "sophistication and efficiency." He called the attacks a terrible crime, but said there was no clear evidence linking the hijackers to Islamic groups.
Mr. Solaiman said his comments do not make him a legitimate target for federal security agents. "I don't see, personally, why I should be (a target), no," he said. "I don't think of myself as a dangerous man to spy on. I'm just an ordinary person."
Whoever took the film from his fax machine will be disappointed by the results, he added. "There is nothing on the film to cause worry to me or anybody. People send me faxes asking religious questions. I send them back answers and so on. There's information about conferences and that sort. There's no material of concern for anybody."
Two electronics-store employees interviewed yesterday said there's at least a theoretical possibility that an imprint of incoming faxes can be left on the machine's roll of film. But neither was certain the material would be legible.
However, an Ottawa fax-machine technician working for Reliable Services said certain models do leave highly legible imprints of faxes on their spent rolls of carbon film.
Spy agencies have been known to target similar machines.
In the early 1960s, the American Central Intelligence Agency planted a miniature camera inside a Xerox machine being used in the Soviet Union's Washington embassy.
A Xerox technician retrieved and replaced the film during regular maintenance, in what was one of the CIA's most successful spy operations.