Canada Thwarts Terror Plot on Passenger Train

VIA operates passenger rail services across Canada. Photo by rail-pictures.com

Two foreign men, living in Canada, will appear in court Tuesday for a bail hearing after they were charged with plotting a terrorist attack on a passenger train, with support from al-Qaeda elements in Iran.

The two suspects Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, were arrested in Montreal and Toronto on Monday.

They allegedly planned to derail a VIA passenger train in the greater Toronto area and "kill and hurt people," however, it is not clear when as they targeted "a specific route, but not necessarily a specific train."

VIA operates passenger rail services across Canada.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), quoted by BBC, said the surveillance operation leading to the arrests of the two suspects was "a result of extensive collaborative efforts," stressing the plot was in the planning stage and "there was no imminent threat to the general public."

Again, according to local authorities, the two men were not Canadian citizens and were supported by "al-Qaeda elements in Iran" but there was no evidence of State sponsorship.

The RCMP also informed FBI agents from the US were involved in the operation to foil the attack.

There was no connection between the plot and last week's Boston Marathon bombings, a US justice department official is also quoted as saying.

 

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