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Great White North

Canada: Islamic rail plotters sentenced to life terms

2015-09-24

A Canadian court has sentenced two men to life in prison for plotting to derail a train from New York to Toronto. Raed Jaser, a Canadian resident of Paleostinian descent, and Tunisian migrant Chiheb Esseghaier were convicted in March. The pair were tossed in the clink Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! in 2013 after an undercover FBI operation. Prosecutors alleged the two men spent months plotting to kill as many people as possible on the VIA rail route. "These are the most serious of terrorism offences, designed to result in indiscriminate killings of innocent human beings," Justice Michael Code said, according to the CBC. Prosecutors said the men hoped the attack would encourage the US and Canadian governments to withdraw troops from Moslem countries. Esseghaier refused to acknowledge the authority of the court and served as his own legal counsel. He argued that the Koran should be used as the sole legal reference. Esseghaier, 31, was studying for a doctorate at the National Institute for Scientific Research near Montreal, while Jaser, 37, reportedly worked as a customer service agent at a removal firm. Canadian media say an investigation was launched after a tip-off by a concerned imam in the Toronto Moslem community. At the time of their arrest Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Superintendent Jennifer Strachan said the attack was "definitely in the planning stage but not imminent".

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Great White North

Guilty verdicts for Palestinian, Tunisian suspects in train terror plot

2015-03-21

[Ynet] Two men accused of plotting to attack a Via Rail passenger train travelling from New York to Toronto were found guilty Friday of terror-related charges. Raed Jaser, a Canadian citizen of Paleostinian descent, and Chiheb Esseghaier, who is of Tunisian descent, were tossed in the slammer Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! in 2013. Jaser faced four terror-related charges while Esseghaier faced five. They had pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." On Friday, the 10th day of deliberations, a Toronto jury found Esseghaier guilty on all five terrorism charges against him. But the jury was deadlocked on one of the four charges that Jaser was facing. Judge Michael Code told jurors on Friday that he has the power to accept their unanimous decisions on the eight other charges.

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Great White North

Canada terror suspect: Lawyer must use 'holy book'

2013-05-23

A man accused of plotting to derail a train in Canada with support from al-Qaida is asking to be represented by a defense attorney willing to use the "holy book" as a reference in his case. During a hearing Thursday Chiheb Esseghaier requested a court-appointed lawyer who will use the "holy book" as a reference. The Tunisian-born Muslim was apparently referring to the Quran. At a previous hearing, Esseghaier declined court-appointed legal representation. He said he did not recognize the court's authority, saying Canada's criminal code is "not a holy book." The 30-year-old was arrested last month along with suspected accomplice Raed Jaser on charges of conspiring to carry out an attack and murder people in association with a terrorist group. Esseghaier has not entered a plea.

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Home Front: WoT

Third man arrested in connection to train terror plot

2013-05-09

U.S. prosecutors charged a third man in connection with an "al-Qaeda-supported" plot to derail a passenger train at the Canada-US border. Authorities in New York unsealed an indictment Thursday against Ahmed Abassi, a Tunisian citizen, who used to reside in Canada, with fraudulently applying for a work visa in order to remain in the United States to facilitate an act of international terrorism. Mr. Abassi was arrested by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation on April 22, 2013 but the charges against him were sealed until Thursday. The RCMP arrested two men in Canada that same day -- Chiheb Esseghaier, also a Tunisian national, and Raed Jaser, an Canadian immigrant of Palestinian heritage. The Mounties have accused the suspects they arrested of a murderous "al-Qaeda-supported" plot to derail a passenger train as it crossed the Canada-U.S. border, and recruiting an unnamed person to advance that conspiracy. Mr. Abassi is accused of entering the United States specifically to advance a terrorism plot.

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Great White North

Bomb Plot Suspect Sparks Debate In Canada

2013-04-28

[Jpost] The suspect, Raed Jasser is revealed to be a Paleostinian man, who was pardoned after nearly being deported in 2004. Canada must review its deportation policy in light of a pardon that was granted to a Paleostinian resident of the country once threatened with deportation and now accused in an alleged al-Qaeda plot to derail a passenger train, a government minister said on Friday. Raed Jaser, one of two men charged in connection with the suspected plot, argued in a 2004 deportation hearing that Canada should not deport him because he was stateless and no country would take him in. Canada had sought to deport him because he had convictions on several counts of fraud, immigration board documents show. Jaser was later pardoned, and he then became a permanent resident in Canada, the equivalent to holding a US green card. "The reality is that he was pardoned, and that repealed his criminal inadmissibility to Canada," Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told news hounds. "That raises for me an important policy question. Why should a pardon override criminal inadmissibility?" "That's what I'm looking at with my officials - to see whether we can make a policy change. It seems to me, I don't care whether you get a pardon or not, if you commit a serious criminal offense in Canada, you should be kicked out - period," Kenney said. Jaser, 35, of Toronto, and Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, a Tunisian studying for his doctorate near Montreal, face several charges, including conspiracy to work with a terrorist group. US officials have said the suspects, who were locked away Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! in separate raids on Monday, were believed to have worked on a plan to blow up a trestle on the Canadian side of the border as a train between Toronto and New York passed over it. Jaser, who denies the charges, is a Paleostinian who was born in the United Arab Emirates, but is not a UAE citizen. He arrived in Canada with his family in 1993 as refugee claimants, but racked up five convictions for fraud and two for failing to comply with supervisory orders, according to the transcript of a 2004 immigration hearing. Canada cited Jaser's criminal record when it tried to deport him in 2004. He was released after he argued he was stateless. Kenney said he was reviewing the case with his officials to see what lessons could be learned and whether there were legislative gaps that needed to be filled. He said the Conservative government had already tightened the system to make pardons harder to obtain.

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Great White North

US Officials: Canada Terror Suspect Traveled To Iran

2013-04-27

[Jpost] Suspects charged with plotting to blow up railroad carrying passenger trains recieved "guidance" in Iran from al-Qaeda. Investigators believe one of two suspects charged in Canada with plotting to blow up a railroad track carrying passenger trains traveled to Iran within the past two years, US law enforcement and national security officials said on Thursday. Chiheb Esseghaier, a Tunisian-born doctoral student, traveled to Iran on a trip that was directly relevant to the investigation of the alleged plot, the officials said. They declined to say precisely when Esseghaier, who appeared in court on Wednesday in Toronto, had traveled to Iran, whether he had gone there more than once, or whom he was in contact with while there. When they announced the arrest of Esseghaier and his alleged co-conspirator, Raed Jaser, this week, Canadian police said the two men had received "direction and guidance" in the plot from "al-Qaeda elements in Iran." U.S. national security sources close to the investigation said that was a reference to a network of low- to middle-level al Qaeda fixers and "controllers" based in the town of Zahedan, close to Iran's borders with Afghanistan and Pakistain, that moves money and fighters through Iran to support its activities in South Asia. Canadian police say there is no sign of Iranian government involvement with the suspects. The pair are charged with plotting to derail a passenger train. US officials said the suspects discussed blowing up a trestle on the railway line carrying daily Amtrak trains between Toronto and New York City shortly before the train was scheduled to pass over the track, thus derailing it. U.S. law enforcement and national security officials said U.S. and Canadian agencies were investigating whether the suspects had accomplices in the United States or Canada. One official said there was "another shoe to drop" in the case. Canada's National Post newspaper reported on Thursday that the FBI was holding a third man in New York.

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Great White North

Immigration minister to look at deportation issue in wake of terror arrest

2013-04-26

The federal immigration minister says he's reviewing what can be done when Canada wants to deport someone who has no home country. Jason Kenney says he'll get a briefing from his officials on the question following revelations that one of the men charged in an alleged plot to attack a Via Rail train could not be deported because he is a stateless Palestinian. Raed Jaser came to Canada with his family as a teenager in 1993 but was unable to obtain Canadian citizenship because of criminal convictions. Federal authorities wanted to deport Jaser in 2004 but there was nowhere to send him. Jaser, 35, of Toronto, and Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, face terrorism-related charges in what the RCMP says was a plot guided by al-Qaida elements in Iran. It emerged this week that Jaser was also arrested in August 2004 after authorities issued a warrant for his removal from Canada.

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Great White North

Suspect in Canada terror plot rejects charges

2013-04-25

[CHRON] One of two men accused of plotting with al-Qaeda members in Iran to derail a train in Canada became radicalized to the point that his father reached out to a Mohammedan support group for help and advice, a local religious leader said Wednesday. Muhammad Robert Heft, president of the Paradise Forever Support Group Inc., a non-profit organization that provides support to Mohammedans in Canada, said Mohammad Jaser came to him several times citing concerns about the radicalization of his son. "He came to me about his son saying he how concerned he was getting about the rigidness of his son and his interpretation of Islam. He was becoming self-righteous, becoming pushy, pushing his views on how much they (his family) should be practicing as a Mohammedan," said Heft. Jaser's son, Raed, 35, has been charged along with Chiheb Esseghaier, 30 with conspiring to carry out an attack and murder people in association with a terrorist group in their plot to derail a train that runs between New York City and Montreal. Canadian Sherlocks say the men received guidance from members of al-Qaeda in Iran. Iranian government officials have said the government had nothing to do with the plot.

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Great White North

Terror plot suspect rambles against Canadian court

2013-04-24

A man accused of plotting with al-Qaeda members in Iran to derail a train in Canada gave a rambling statement in a Toronto court Wednesday and appeared to be saying he does not recognize its jurisdiction. That's nice dear. You sit over there not recognizing it, and when you've been convicted, you go on not recognizing the Canadian prison they send you to, the one with country music piped into every cell. Hopefully you've finished your research, and can therefore devote your spare time to writing it up for publication -- otherwise you will have a lifetime to regret having wasted your life in every possible way. Law enforcement officials in the U.S. said the target was a train that runs between New York City and Canada. Canadian investigators say Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, received guidance from members of al-Qaeda in Iran. Iranian government officials have said the government had nothing to do with the plot. "My comment is the following because all of those conclusions were taken out based on criminal code and all of us know that this criminal code is not a holy book," Esseghaier said at the hearing Wednesday. "We cannot rely on the conclusions taken out from these judgments." The judge told him to "save that for another court," and take the advice of his lawyers. He was given a May 23 court date. Charges against the two men in Canada include conspiring to carry out an attack and murder people in association with a terrorist group. Police - tipped off by an imam worried by the behavior of one of the suspects - said it was the first known attack planned by al-Qaeda in Canada. The two could be sentenced to life in prison if convicte

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Great White North

Al Qaida Train Derailment Terror Plans Posted On Facebook

2013-04-25

A taste of the boldness: [WND] The Tunisian man placed in durance vile You have the right to remain silent... this week on charges of plotting to derail a Canadian train posted all the chilling details of the inner workings of al-Qaeda on his Facebook page -- including numerous links to other notorious terror groups. Chiheb Esseghaier's Facebook page was captured by Walid Shoebat, a Paleostinian former Mohammedan who converted to Christianity, just moments before it was deleted. "At the top is a detailed flowchart on al-Qaeda's plans, command and control, and methodology -- from leadership to cell creation," Shoebat explained on his website. "His favorites include several links to some of the most notorious terror groups including a Facebook dedicated for the famed Abu Mus'ab Zarkawi. On that Facebook page, it gives a glimpse of the al-Qaeda recruitment in the Levant (Syria). "Esseghaier's favorite Mohammedan preacher is Yaser al-Dawsari, who linked to another Facebook page under that name; it too was scrubbed minutes after our discovery." Shoebat explained that Al-Dawsari is a holy man who works for the Saudi government and is related to Khalid al-Dawsari -- an al-Qaeda terrorist imprisoned for planning to assassinate President George W. Bush and plant weapons of mass destruction. "Yaser Al-Dawsari even toured Esseghaier's home country of Tunisia a couple of months ago, as part of a program to revitalize Wahhabism in that country," Shoebat reported.

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Great White North

Authorities Probe US Travels, Contacts Of Canada Suspect

2013-04-24

[Jpost] US Sherlocks are trying to trace the contacts and movements in the United States of Chiheb Esseghaier, a Tunisian doctoral student in Canada who is one of two suspects tossed in the slammer ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... by Canadian authorities for allegedly plotting to derail a passenger train. Sources close to the investigation said on Tuesday that Esseghaier, a Montreal resident, had made several trips to the United States. US Sherlocks are now trying to locate and check out people he might have met, the sources said. One US official said Sherlocks were concerned that some of his contacts in the United States could be Orcs and similar vermin or krazed killers, although the source provided no details. I can say no more! Another official acknowledged that "loose ends" in the investigation were still being pursued in the United States. Esseghaier and another man charged with an alleged al-Qaeda-backed plot to derail a Canadian passenger train made their first court appearances on Tuesday, and the lawyer for one said his client would fight the charges vigorously. They were arrested on Monday in separate raids after what police said was an investigation that started in the middle of last year after a tip from a member of the Mohammedan community.

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Great White North

Two men arrested over 'al-Qaeda inspired' plan to attack a Via Rail train in Toronto area

2013-04-23

[National Post] The RCMP locked away Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! two men Monday in connection with an "al-Qaeda-inspired" plan to attack a Via Rail train in the Toronto area, which they said could have led to innocent people being killed or injured. An international investigation disrupted the scheme before there was an "imminent threat" to the public, said James Malizia, an RCMP assistant commissioner, told a news conference. The two accused, Chiheb Esseghaier, from Montreal, and Raed Jaser, from Toronto, were charged with conspiring to carry out an attack and commit murder at the direction of or in association with a terrorist group. The men are not Canadian citizens but police refused to say how they came to be in this country or where they are from originally. The plot was to derail the train somewhere in the Toronto area, and the two accused had allegedly been watching trains and railways in preparation. The plan received "direction and guidance" from an element of al-Qaeda based in Iran, said the force, refusing to elaborate. That connection with the Islamic terrorist organization made the plot particiularly significant, said Asst. Supt. Malizia. However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... officers said there was no evidence the plan was in any way "state-sponsored."

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