2 Arrested in Canada Planned to Attack Train, Police Say

[jimnyc]

We still ready to say maybe it's time to scale back, that maybe AQ can't get here, or have been decimated, or are just a bunch of guys in another world with AK47's?


OTTAWA — The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said that they had arrested two men on Monday who had been planning to derail a passenger train.

But they offered few details of the plot or their evidence at a news conference in Toronto called to announce the arrests.

Assistant Commissioner James Malizia said that the two suspects had received “direction and guidance” from “Al Qaeda elements living in Iran,” but that there was no evidence that the effort was sponsored by the government of Iran.

He declined to explain how the link to Al Qaeda had been made.

The two suspects were identified as Chiheb Esseghaier, 35, who has been living in Toronto, and Raed Jaser, 30, who has been living in Montreal. The police said they were not Canadian citizens, but declined to identify their nationalities or to describe their immigration status in Canada.

Chief Superintendent Jennifer Strachan said that the two men watched trains in and around Toronto and were plotting to attack a train operated by Via Rail Canada, the government-owned rail system, within Canada.

The police emphasized that the public was never in “imminent danger.” They said that the two suspects had been under constant observation and that contingency plans had been made.

The police also executed search warrants at several locations in Toronto and Montreal on Monday afternoon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/world/americas/2-arrested-in-plot-to-attack-passenger-train-canada-says.html?_r=0

[Kathianne]

More reason I'm not yet buying into the Boston thing standing alone for the two. From what I've read, with little or no follow up from 'regular MSM sources' since the marathon, at least 8 have been picked up. Coincidence? Perhaps, but logic goes against that.

[NightTrain]

Iran, eh?

Sounds like the USAF needs to pay a visit to those peace loving individuals camped out in the desert.

Or, I'm sure if we provided a few bunker busters, the Israelis would be delighted to ensure a timely delivery for us.

[Drummond]

If Left-wingers get their way .. after a period, they'll hope that awareness of the potential for further attacks will die down (always assuming that follow-up attacks don't happen).

So, complacency will set in. The Left will, once more, embark on its escapist attitudes ... expecting the general public to follow suit. Then, everybody will be surprised, shocked, outraged, when, 'out of nowhere', the next such attack occurs.

And so it'll continue on.

Well, I have an alternative to suggest. How about, everybody WAKES UP to the ONGOING, PERSISTENT THREAT ?? AND DECIDES to NOT give terrorists a further breather ? How about ... people understanding there's an enemy out there, that will not give up BEING your enemy, and proving it by killing more and more innocent people ??

The Left will hate that idea. But then, they would ....

[jafar00]

Al Qaeda in Iran? :laugh2::laugh2::laugh2:

[aboutime]

More reason I'm not yet buying into the Boston thing standing alone for the two. From what I've read, with little or no follow up from 'regular MSM sources' since the marathon, at least 8 have been picked up. Coincidence? Perhaps, but logic goes against that.


Kathianne. Personally. Based on everything I have read about this, and what has happened in the past with not only Obama, but friends of Obama who have much more serious plans in the destruction of this nation. I do believe those two Boston Bombers were NOT operating alone.
In fact. I suspect, but cannot prove. The present administration/government is intentionally turning a Blind Eye to this, and pretending they are doing everything possible to learn more. UNTIL...one recognizes how Holder and Obama INSTRUCT, and CONTROL the FBI operations as part of their overall erosion of the Judicial system. Which also explains why Obama ignores the Constitution and is so set on overriding that document with EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
As American citizens. I fear we are only seeing a small portion of what is actually taking place. Just as Holder, and Obama demand.

[jimnyc]

Al Qaeda in Iran? :laugh2::laugh2::laugh2:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/10/opinion/bergen-iran-al-qaeda
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/23/canada-plot-shows-new-al-qaeda-iran-linkag.html

Try reading before laughing. It's elements within Iran, not that Al Qaeda is based there. I suppose we have us here a few more "fake muslims" trying to blow things up and blame it on the real muslims? :rolleyes:

[jimnyc]

Al Qaeda in Iran? :laugh2::laugh2::laugh2:

Here, this will help the uninformed a little more. But I'm confident this too will be scoffed at, anything to deny yet ANOTHER Muslim attack. It just seems to be a daily occurrence.


Canadian authorities claim al-Qaeda operatives in Iran directed a failed plot to attack a passenger train.

Iran denies it has any links to the two suspects: Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto, and Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal.

What falls in between is Iran's complicated history with the extremist group that has included outright hostility, alliances of convenience and even overtures by Tehran to assist Washington after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Are Iran and al-Qaeda allies?

Relations have always been rocky. Iran has been at odds with al-Qaeda on many fronts. A fundamental divide is over the two main branches of Islam. Iran is mostly Shia. Al-Qaeda is nearly exclusively Sunni-led. Some hardline militants backing al-Qaeda consider Shia Muslims as heretics and view Tehran's regional ambitions as a greater threat than the West. Sunni insurgents in Iraq, for example, have used car bombs and suicide attacks against Shia targets, killing thousands since 2003. In January 2011, the al-Qaeda faction in Yemen declared "holy war" against Shia rebels that are believed to be supported from Tehran. Iran also has been incensed by al-Qaeda backing for Syrian rebels seeking to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad, one of Tehran's main allies in the region.

Before the Sept. 11 attacks, Iran was even more outspoken than Western countries against the Taliban, which sheltered Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders. In 1998, eight Iranian diplomats were killed when Taliban forces overran Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan and were accused of the systematic slayings of Shias. The rights group Amnesty International said Taliban fighters stormed the Iranian consulate as part of its anti-Shia purges.

A June 2009 al-Qaeda memo — possibly to bin Laden — refers to the Iranian government as "criminals" and bashed its opaque and unpredictable policies. The document was among files seized in the May 2011 raid that killed bin Laden and was posted online last year by the U.S. Army's Combating Terrorism Center.

How did al-Qaeda figures end up in Iran?

After the U.S.-led attacks against the Taliban in late 2001, scores of al-Qaeda foot soldiers, leaders and some of bin Laden's relatives fled over the border into Iran. Iran put many under house arrest-style detention, but refused to send them to U.S. allies, such as Saudi Arabia, where they could face extradition or interrogations by American forces. Tehran's leadership believed that holding bin Laden relatives and al-Qaeda officials could offer a guarantee against anti-Shia attacks. It also was seen as an unexpected bargaining chip with the West for Tehran's leadership, which rejoiced in the Taliban's downfall but was fearful of U.S.-led forces next door.

Who were among the high-level al-Qaeda operatives in Iran?

Al-Qaeda's senior military strategist Saif al-Adel was in Iran for years with his family. He was under close surveillance, but apparently received more freedoms to travel abroad and have greater contacts as part of a deal in 2010 to free a kidnapped Iranian diplomat in Pakistan's tribal areas, where al-Qaeda still carries strong influence. It's unclear whether he remains in Iran or has shifted to other areas, possibly Pakistan. Several reports he was killed have not been verified in recent years, but speculation continues to be fuelled by a lack of confirmed sightings or statements. Al-Adel, an Egyptian, allegedly helped mastermind the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa and is among the FBI's most-wanted militants.

Another top al-Qaeda official, bin Laden son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, lived in Iran for about a decade, according to U.S. investigators. Abu Ghaith — a Kuwaiti stripped of his citizenship by the Western-allied Gulf nation — was captured by the FBI in Jordan in February and would be the highest-ranking al-Qaeda figure to stand trial on U.S. soil since the Sept. 11 attacks. He served as al-Qaeda spokesman and fundraiser before the group's leaders fled Afghanistan and possibly continued some work from Iran, security analysts say. Abu Ghaith also was given more freedoms to travel outside Iran in the deal to free the Iranian diplomat.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/04/23/faq-iran-al-qaeda-complicated-history.html