Two accused mulled over blowing up bridge

Jaser and undercover agent discussed plans to buy weapons from Russia

TORONTO • Two men accused in an alleged plot to derail a Via Rail train travelling from New York to Toronto wanted to establish a “network of like-minded brothers” to spread their message in Canada, their trial heard Friday.

Raed Jaser and Chiheb Esseghaier face multiple terror-related charges in the alleged scheme that culminated in their arrest in April 2013. Pleas of not guilty have been entered for both.

Conversations recorded by an undercover FBI officer suggest the pair intended to instruct others to follow in their footsteps.

In a recording played in a Toronto courtroom Friday, Mr. Jaser is heard telling the undercover agent he wants to recruit “young men who are enthusiastic but ... have no direction” and bring them together “to be trained and talk and pray together.”

A non-profit body would be set up as a front, with an office, a mosque and possibly a high school, all to “educate the people,” he is heard saying.

A stretch of land — roughly 40 hectares — several hours north of Toronto could be bought and transformed into a firearms training area, he is heard saying.

The recordings, captured at the FBI officer’s hotel in September 2012, show the alleged train plot hit a snag after the rail bridge the pair purportedly planned to target proved to be sturdier than they believed.

Mr. Jaser is heard explaining that they initially meant to weaken the bridge with jackhammers but found the structure too solid during a reconnaissance mission. He goes on to say they could use heavy-duty torches instead or simply blow up the bridge.

“I don’t see any other way,” he is heard saying in an intercepted conversation with the officer, who befriended the two men posing as a wealthy U.S. businessman with radical views.

A few days later, both Mr. Jaser and Mr. Esseghaier recall in another taped conversation how they accidentally stumbled into a family’s backyard mid-barbecue while scouting around the bridge. They decide their chosen location is too close to a residential area and set out to find another bridge.

The trial previously heard the men would wait for a “green light” from radical contacts overseas before the attack. But in the recordings heard Friday, Mr. Jaser expresses concerns about taking directions from abroad. People in another country can’t know what the situation is in Canada, he is heard arguing.

Mr. Jaser and the undercover agent also discuss plans to buy weapons from Russia — rather than organized crime or drug dealers — in order to carry out a sniper attack on Canadian leaders. They would rent an apartment to stash the weapons, and another to serve as a safe house, they are heard saying.