Terrorism suspects in court in Toronto and Montreal as new details of arrests emerge

CTV NEWS AND TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

RCMP escort Chiheb Esseghair, of Montreal, at Buttonville airport on Monday. He faces terrorism-related charges for allegedly conspiring to carry out an "Al Qaeda-supported attack on a VIA Rail train.

Toronto Star 

CANADA

The two men facing terrorism charges will be appearing in bail court in both Toronto and Montreal on Tuesday morning.

Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto, is set to appear for a bail hearing at the Old City Hall courthouse, while 30-year-old Chiheb Esseghaier, from Montreal, has been taken back to that city for his bail hearing at 11 a.m.

Jaser and Esseghaier face terrorism charges in what police are calling the first “Al Qaeda-sponsored” plot in Canada.

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Tunisian-born Esseghaier, a doctoral student and engineer, had been flown to Toronto with an RCMP escort Monday afternoon.

Jaser, according to sources, is of Palestinian descent and lived in the United Arab Emirates before moving here and living most recently in a rented North York apartment.

More details have emerged about the arrest of Jaser on Monday at his place of work, a moving company.

A dozen RCMP cars speed into a Bartor Rd. business complex around 2 p.m. At least 15 police officers went into the North York Moving Company and escorted Jaser out in handcuffs. Nassir Tharani, who works next door to the moving company, saw police put Jaser in the back of a police cruiser.

About half an hour after Jaser was arrested, two plain clothed officers escorted out a woman who was carrying a folder of papers and a carton of what he said looked like documents. She was taken away in another cruiser.

He said police come to the area, just west of Highway 400, to practice driving from time to time, but he knew something was different when RCMP, equipped with a tactical unit and K-9, went into the moving company office.

“It's scary. They had their hands on their weapons and out back one of my guys said police had automatic weapons drawn and ready.”

No one from North York moving could be reached for comment on Tuesday morning.

Esseghaier was arrested Monday while sitting in the McDonald’s restaurant at Montreal’s central train station. La Presse reported he was using a computer when police swept in. They also seized surveillance tapes from the restaurant, which is just a few feet away from the VIA Rail ticket desk.

Police allege the case had ties to Iran although denied it was state-sponsored.

With files from Andrew Livingston

Terror plot: Toronto Muslim leader tipped off RCMP: CBC

CHRIS YOUNG / THE CANADIAN PRESS

A RCMP officer stands outside the Toronto home of one of two men accused of plotting a terror attack on a VIA Rail target. (April 22, 2013)

Toronto Star 

CANADA

By: Thestar.com, Published on Tue Apr 23 2013
A “prominent community leader” among Toronto Muslims tipped off the RCMP to possible terror suspects, the CBC reports.

A “prominent community leader” among Toronto Muslims tipped off the RCMP to possible terror suspects, the CBC reports.

And the Mounties gave GTA’s imams a “special briefing” Monday before announcing the arrest of two men in an alleged plot to derail a VIA passenger train, one community leader told the CBC Tuesday morning.

“It was a sense of thank you as well as a reconfirmation of our collaborated efforts for the safety of the country,” Yusuf Badat, director of religious affairs for the Islamic Foundation of Toronto, told the CBC’s Matt Galloway onMetro Morning.

The RCMP did confirm an imam gave them information that led to the arrests, although “not too many details were shared. They did say a prominent community leader has come forward.”

Badat didn’t know which imam tipped off police.

Is there surveillance in Canada’s Muslim communities in general and had there been specifically of the two men arrested?

Yes, said Badat, there is “informed surveillance” but he didn’t know of any surveillance of the two suspects.

Within a religious community, imams have kept an eye out for radicalization, Badat said.

“We would not hesitate at all in informing the agencies to do their part. As Canadians, we share the concerns. We are equally affected by any terrorism threats.”

Since the terrorist attack on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, he said, “the community has been co-operating with the RCMP in the best interests of the country.”

How has that played out?

“Many times we have been at the RCMP facilities and the government agencies for input, for sensitivity training,” said Badat. In turn, Mounties are invited visit mosques and community centres so Muslims in Canada “get a sense of how we can communicate and how we can contribute in the best interests of the country.”

Badat said he wasn’t too concerned about a backlash against Muslims because of these arrests because he was confident Canadians “are a great people” and can distinguish the many non-radicals from the few radicals.

The role of imams, he said, is to “motivate our congregations that we are not to be blamed but we have to do our part.