Muslims Foil Canadian terror plot, Alleged Passenger Train Attack from Toronto-New York City, Collaboration between Muslim Community, Government Agencies

Authorities were tipped-off a member of the Canadian Muslim community yesterday about an alleged terrorist plot to attack the Maple Leaf Amtrack train, a passenger train from Toronto to New York City.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner James Malizia said that the planned attack was reportedly supported by "al Qaeda elements located in Iran," according to the Examiner.

"We are alleging these two individuals took steps and conducted activities to conduct a terrorist attack," Jennifer Strachan of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told Fox 2 Now reporters.  The alleged attack included a plan to derail a passenger train, she said.

Despite the allegation of links to al Qaeda in Iran, there was no evidence to suggest the planned attacks were state-sponsored, said  James Malizi, Assistant Police Commissioner, according to Fox 2 Now.

A Toronto imam alerted authorities over a year ago about a person he regarded as an extremist who was corrupting the youth in his community, according to The Globe and Mail.

"More than a year ago, a client of mine, an imam in the Toronto Muslim community, became concerned after noticing the activities of one of the individuals now under arrest," Toronto lawyer Naseer Syed told The Globe and Mail.  This tip allowed the RCMP to bust the alleged  al-Qaeda terrorist plot yesterday.

"This goes to show the partnership between the Muslim community in Canada and the RCMP and all the police services," said Hussein Hamdani, a Canadian lawyer, according to CTV News.  "All Canadians need to understand that the Muslim community in Canada are partners in making Canada safe and secure."

While there's always concern that the actions of a few isolated individuals will hurt the reputation of Muslims as a whole in Canada, Hamdani told CTV that he hopes that won't be the case this time.

CTV reports that, this afternoon, in advance of the press conference to announce the arrests, the RCMP brought 22 leaders from Canada's Muslim community to its headquarters for a briefing and to thank them for their assistance.

Muhammad Robert Heft, runs an organization that provides outreach to Islamic converts.  He said that meetings like these send a powerful message to Muslims in Canada and that is that the police are not intentionally targeting them, according to CTV.

"I know some real stand-up guys inside the RCMP who took the time to take our community aside and say, 'Hey look, you guys are part of the greater community, there might be things said about you guys but know that's not what we believe,'" Heft told the station.

It might not be well known, but collaboration between Muslims and government agencies, such as the RCMP, CSIS, Canadian Border Services Agency and the Department of Justice is actually quite common, Hamdani told CTV.  "There's a reason why the RCMP called leaders of the Muslim community," he said.

One example of such collaboration occurred in 2006 when Muslim leaders were summoned by police ahead of arrests in the Toronto 18 case, according to CTV.

Collaboration is an important element for facilitating understanding on both sides, Hamdani told CTV.  "Our thoughts are that maybe the Muslim community has stereotypes about these security agencies and maybe security agencies have stereotypes about the Muslim community," he said.

The two men, Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser were arrested yesterday and are facing terror-related criminal charges, according to CTV News.  Neither suspect is a Canadian citizen, one is from Tunisia and the other is from the United Arab Emirates, said the RMCP.

The men were taken into custody Monday in Montreal and Toronto and they face several criminal charges, including plotting murder, terrorist recruitment and terrorism, according to The Globe and Mail.  The two suspects are to appear in court sometime today.