Doing Jihad Authorized by Sharia

"The offences under investigation are terrorist acts which will cause loss of life and significant property damage. Esseghaier and Jaser have communicated about plans to commit a terrorist act in which the intent is to kill people."
RCMP court document

"As a result of developments which had occurred within a parallel investigation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which also involved Esseghaier, the decision was to delay the arrests of Esseghaier and Jaser so as not to compromise the FBI investigation.
"Had Esseghaier and Jaser been arrested, the identity of an FBI undercover employee would have been compromised. This same FBI undercover employee has been working on the INSET (Integrated National Security Enforcement Team of the RCMP) investigation into Esseghaier and the FBI investigation involving Esseghaier and others in New York City. As a result, the search warrants were not executed."
Cpl. Patrick Flannery, RCMP Toronto airport detachment

Chris Young/The Canadian Press; John Mantha/CP    Chiheb Esseghaier (L) and Raed Jaser were arrested in 2013 over what the RCMP has called an al-Qaeda-linked plot to derail a passenger train.

 

In April of 2013 Canadians were arrested by the news that two men with landed immigrant status in Canada were apprehended by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on charges of conspiring to commit terrorist acts in Canada. One, whose name is Chiheb Esseghaier, from Tunisia, a doctoral student in Montreal, the other, Raed Jaser from Abu Dhabi living in Toronto, have been in jail ever since, awaiting trial. Mr. Esseghaier insists that he will represent himself in court if a lawyer cannot be found who is knowledgeable in the Koran and is prepared to use Sharia law to represent him.

Both men are in their 30s, and other than that there seems nothing to connect them in education, social standing, background and lifestyle, other than their shared decision to commit an atrocity or two in Canada. A court-ordered publication ban prevents the news media from reporting much in the way of details about the two, leaving the public to exercise their own imagination about how or why their fervent desire to kill Canadians was reached.

The manner in which they chose to do that has been hinted at, however. A large, time-extended undercover operation on the part of the police that happened to be a bi-country investigation led to their arrest. "This is a complicated investigation. This RCMP investigation is ongoing and involves other (unidentified) associates of Jaser and Esseghaier", commented Cpl. Patrick Flannery of the Toronto airport detachment of the RCMP, testifying in court . What is also known is that at least one co-conspirator is under arrest in the U.S.

 

Mr. Esseghaier came to Canada in 2008 as a doctoral student in bio-nanotechnology for which he appears to have an advanced talent. He was hard at work studying for exams for his doctorate at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, a branch of the Universite de Quebec, even while investigators were busy procuring court authority to search his apartment and vehicle through their investigation named 'Project Smooth'.

Previous to his arrest he had travelled to Zahedan in eastern Iran, a city frequented by al-Qaeda "facilitators". A setting that appears to serve as a gateway for jihadis on their way to Afghanistan, according to Reuters. Mr. Esseghaier had earned a reputation at his lab for forceful insistence that his need for a prayer room be recognized; what was recognized among his lab colleagues was his Islamist fanaticism. An observation that would label those recognizing him for what he is as intolerant.

As for Mr. Jaser, he was born in the United Arab Emirates to Palestinian parents, had lived in Germany before his arrival with his family to Canada in 1993. Authorities had attempted to deport him in 2004 resulting from a criminal record he had acquired in Canada. Deportation proved difficult to achieve given hi stateless situation. Mr. Jaser's radicalism had been noted by an imam at the Masjid Al-Faisal mosque in Toronto. And by his own father who had approached another imam over his concern relating to his son's' rigidity'.

Investigators repeatedly sought court warrants for covert entry to the men's homes and vehicles searching for "maps, pamphlets, brochures" and any other documents relating to "the Canadian railway system", in light of the fact that they had tracked the two on a trip to a community in Niagara, Ontario, where the Maple Leaf train crosses a trestle bridge daily as it travels from New York to Toronto.

Although details have not been released, police investigators were prepared to wrap their operation up by April. "A great deal of time has been spent planning the train derailment", wrote the RCMP, in the process of applying for warrants enabling searches at the same time as the arrests which took place on April 22, when both men were charged with conspiracy to commit murder and terrorism offences.

While they all remain in custody, Chiheb Esseghaier who has a presence on Linked In, appears to be fairly popular on the site which from time to time alerts members with brief profiles of other members along with invitations to take advantage of the opportunity to contact them and link in with them, as follows:

Staying in touch with valuable contacts can help you in your career. Quickly connect to some people we think you know. Anne-Marie Caron Administrative Coordinator at Laurier Optical Connect with Anne-Marie

Other people you may know See All » Mark Leahy President at Mergenta Connect with Mark Shujaat Hussain CEO at MEGA International Connect with Shujaat Élizabeth Jong -- Connect with Élizabeth Chiheb Esseghaier phD student at INRS Connect with Chiheb