.
"Jaser was born in the United Arab Emirates and came to Canada
with his parents as refugees 20 years ago."...
4/24/13, "Train plot suspect rejects Canadian law, cites "holy book"," Reuters, Martell
"One of two men accused in an alleged al
Qaeda-backed plan to derail a passenger train in Canada appeared in
court on Wednesday and disputed the authority of Canadian law to judge
him, saying the criminal code was not a holy book.
Chiheb Esseghaier, a Tunisian-born doctoral student, faces
charges that include conspiracy to murder and working with a terrorist
group.
He and another suspect, Raed Jaser, are charged with plotting
to derail a passenger train, and U.S. security sources say they sought
to attack at a bridge near the U.S.-Canada border.
In a brief hearing where he was ordered back into custody,
Esseghaier, 30, said the allegations against him are based on laws that
are unreliable because they are not the work of God.
"All of these conclusions was taken out based on (the) criminal
code," he told a Toronto court. "The criminal code is not (a) holy
book."
He added: "Only the Creator is perfect."...
Canadian authorities have said they linked
Esseghaier and Jaser to al Qaeda factions in Iran. However, they said
there was no indication their plans, which police described as the first
known al Qaeda-backed plot on Canadian soil, were state-sponsored.
Tehran has vehemently rejected any ties to the suspects...
In court on Wednesday, Esseghaier declined to use an
Arabic-language interpreter, although he seemed at times to struggle to
understand the proceedings. On Tuesday he opted not to have a lawyer for
his initial court appearance in Montreal.
As a Tunisian, he is likely fluent in Arabic and French, and the academic papers he co-authored are in English.
Jaser was born in the United Arab Emirates and came to Canada
with his parents as refugees 20 years ago, although he only recently
obtained status as a permanent resident, Canada's equivalent to a U.S.
green card.
U.S. officials have said the suspects were believed to have
worked on a plan to blow up a trestle on the Canadian side of the border
as the Maple Leaf, Amtrak's daily run between Toronto and New York,
passed over it....
Police had tracked Esseghaier for a year
before making the arrests. U.S. sources close to the investigation said
he made several trips to the United States, with one official saying
that "loose ends" were still being pursued in the United States.
CBC Radio cited a Canadian official as saying they had monitored Esseghaier's visit to a conference in Cancun, Mexico in 2012.
On the timing of the arrests, some Canadian media speculated on
Wednesday that officials felt a sense of urgency to act preventively
after the Boston Marathon bombings. Other media reports wondered if
officials had intelligence suggesting the plot would soon be ready to
launch....
Jaser's lawyer Norris called the timing of the arrests
"notable," citing the events in Boston and anti-terrorism legislation
being debated in the Canadian parliament.
The alleged link to Iran puzzled some security experts as there
has been little evidence of attempts by the few al Qaeda figures there
to attack the West.
However, a U.S. government source said Iran is home to a
little-known network of alleged al Qaeda fixers and "facilitators" based
in the city of Zahedan, very close to Iran's borders with both Pakistan
and Afghanistan.
Canada severed diplomatic ties with Iran last year over what it
said was Iran's support for terrorist groups, as well as its nuclear
program and its hostility towards Israel." via Atlas Shrugs
.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
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