Foiled terrorist plot in Canada, New York

The RCMP have arrested two people in connection with a homegrown terror plot to derail a New York-to-Toronto passenger train on the Canadian side of the border, CTV News has learned.

The suspects, one in Montreal and one in Toronto, were arrested Monday morning and “will face criminal charges,” reported CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife.

The arrests were part of an ongoing investigation conducted by the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which “had been going on for a considerable amount of time,” Fife “I am told that the two people who have been arrested, they are linked somehow to al Qaeda,” Fife reported Monday afternoon.

Fife said it remains unclear how the two are connected to the international terror organization.

The two people arrested Monday are not linked with two men from London, Ont., who died in an alQaeda-linked siege on a gas plant in Algeria last January. They are also not linked to the suspects in last week’s deadly Boston Marathon bombing.

The public was “never at risk,” security sources told Fife, because RCMP and CSIS were closely monitoring the suspects.

The suspects are described as being older, so “it does not appear to be a case of radicalization of youth,” Fife said. 

Fife said police had planned to make the arrests three weeks ago, but for unknown reasons they picked up the suspects on Monday.

The RCMP are expected to provide more information at a Toronto news conference scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.

The arrests come as MPs debate an anti-terrorism bill that has been in the works for months but has taken on greater significance in the wake of the deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon last week.

Bill S-7, the Combating Terrorism Act, includes provisions that make it an offence to leave the country to participate in acts of terror. It also grants police the powers to pre-emptively arrest someone and hold them for three days without charge, and allows for imprisonment for up to 12 months for refusing to testify before a judge in an investigative hearing.

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'Major terrorist' plot broken up by Canadian and U.S. authorities

Canadian authorities have broken up what is being described as a "major terrorist attack" that may have included targets there and in New York, Fox News has confirmed.

Arrests could be announced as early as Monday afternoon, and sources said charging documents could be filed in federal court in New York. The plot is unrelated to the Boston Marathon attack, sources said. An official says there is no current credible threat to New York City. 

Earlier, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said Canadian police and intelligence agencies were to announce multiple arrests after an operation to thwart the attack. The operation was coordinated with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, CBC said. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said in a statement the investigation was coordinated by a multi-agency team comprised of the RCMP, Canadian Security Intelligence Services, the Canada Border Service Agency and other law enforcement and national security partners in Montreal and Toronto, Canada's two largest cities.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported earlier that police and intelligence agencies had made multiple arrests in connection with the alleged plot.

From Will at The Other News;

WATCH LIVE: RCMP provide update on alleged terror plot at 3:30 p.m.