Analysts surprised by alleged Al Qaeda in Iran tie in Canada plot
By Emily Alpert, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2013, 6:40 p.m

[.....] Canadian police said there was no reason to believe that the plotted attacks were sponsored by any state, which would mean the Iranian government was not involved. Police provided no further details regarding the alleged involvement of Al Qaeda elements in Iran in the plot.

Even if Iran and Al Qaeda share some of the same enemies, “it’s not like Iranians are going to allow a Sunni terrorist group to plan an attack that might result in more hostilities against the Shiite nation of Iran,” said Rick “Ozzie” Nelson, a former U.S. counter-terrorism official and a senior affiliate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “There’s no love lost between them.”

If Al Qaeda members detained in Iran were able to continue orchestrating attacks, that could mean members of the terrorist group have more freedom there than previously believed, Nelson said. That might mean they were able to plot an attack without being detected by Iranian authorities.

The question could be, "How much of this was them just not paying attention?" Nelson said.

Not everyone has been skeptical of the idea that Iran and Al Qaeda could team up, however. “Iran appears willing to expand its limited relationship with Al Qaeda,” Rand Corp. senior political scientist Seth G. Jones wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine last year. Al Qaeda would probably reject any direction from Iran, he wrote, but “any support or tentative permission to plot on Iran’s soil would be helpful.” The U.S. Treasury Department said in October that Iran has allowed Al Qaeda to operate a pipeline moving money and fighters to support Al Qaeda activities in South Asia. While Sunni extremists often consider Shiites to be “heretics,” some Shiite extremists have tried to forge alliances, said Jeffrey M. Bale, a senior researcher at the Monterey Institute of International Studies [.....]

Suspect in alleged Canadian terror plot claims charges 'based on appearances'
By Isabeau Doucet in Montreal, guardian.co.uk, 23 April 2013

[.....] At a brief hearing in Montreal, prosecutors laid outlined the accusations against Chiheb Esseghaier, 30. His alleged accomplice, Raed Jaser, 35, made a separate court appearance in Toronto. [.....]

Esseghaier, 30, calmly confirmed that he understood the charges. He said in French: "The conclusions have been made based on acts and words which are only appearances." The judge told him he would have a chance to address the charges in due course. He was sent to Toronto and will appear in court there later this week.

Esseghaier, a Tunisian doctoral student at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, has "no fixed" address, according to police documents. Richard Roy, public prosecutions of Canada in Montreal's Palais de la Justice, said Esseghaier declined an offer of representation by a court-appointed lawyer. [.....]

Jaser's lawyer, John Norris, had said Jaser was "in a state of shock and disbelief" and "anxious to see the evidence that the crown says it has against him". Norris said his client would "defend himself vigorously" against the accusations, and noted that his client is a permanent resident of Canada who has lived there for 20 years. He refused to say where Jaser was from, saying that revealing his nationality in the current climate amounted to demonizing him. [.....]

Opposition MPs and political analysts have expressed suspicion at the timing of the arrests, a week after the Boston bombings and the same day as a the House of Commons in Canada debated a controversial anti-terrorism bill. The Combating Terrorism Act, or Bill S-7, which was put into effect after 9/11, was never used and fell into abeyance, due to a "sunset" provision, five years ago. It could be reinstated by Tuesday night, if the government gains enough support. It would allow secret trials, pre-emptive detention and expansive security and surveillance powers. Its critics say it is as incompatible with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. [.....]

How Toronto's Muslim Community Uncovered the Would-Be Train Bombers
"They focused on demonizing Western society."

By Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, April 23, 2012

[.....] the most surprising part of the story might be how the suspects were discovered: They were turned in, reports say, by leaders of their own community.

Muhammed Robert Heft, who runs Toronto's Paradise Forever Islamic Center, says that one of the suspects -- he won't say which -- started expressing extremist beliefs to a member of the city's Muslim leadership a year ago.

"They were espousing some views that were starting to ruffle feathers and make people uncomfortable," Heft said. "They focused on demonizing Western society and suggesting that there has to be some kind of retribution or revenge for the perceived grievances of this individual."

The community leader -- Heft declined to give his name -- became concerned, and suggested to Heft that he monitor the suspect.

"It went to a stage where it was a constant topic of conversation. The community leader realized that the person was not changing their views. They worried that something might eventually happen," he explained.

Heft says that when members of the Islamic community there regularly express extremist views, an Imam or other religious leader would call in Heft or another higher-up to try to convince the person of a more moderate point of view. If the person continued to try to gain converts to radical Islam, his name might be passed along to the police.

That's apparently what happened this time, and it worked. Reports show that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police believed the two suspects had the capacity to carry out the attack, but there was no imminent threat to the public, passengers, or infrastructure -- until Monday [.....]