Windsor police arrest pair sought by FBI
Two Ontario men wanted in U.S. for alleged involvement in a radical Islamic group.
Windsor, Ont. — The Canadian Press Published on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 2:32PM EDT Last updated on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 7:12PM EDT
Two Ontario men wanted by the FBI for alleged involvement in a radical Islamic group were arrested Saturday in Windsor, Ont., days after the group’s alleged leader was killed in a shootout with the FBI.
Windsor police Staff Sergeant Dave Kigar said Mohammad Al-Sahli, 33, and Yassir Ali Khan, 30, both of Windsor, were arrested at homes in the city early Saturday morning.
“They used a tactical team due to the information as to what happened over in the arrest Dearborn (Michigan) and that resulted in a shootout,” Staff Sgt. Kigar said.
Tactical teams of RCMP and Windsor police surrounded two houses in the same area of the city and called out to people inside the homes.
Although police had concerns about violence after the Detroit shootout, the men were arrested without any trouble. Staff. Sgt. Kigar said it was not known how long they had been in Windsor or whether they owned homes there.
After the RCMP received information from the FBI the men might be in Windsor, police issued warrants for their arrests.
RCMP Sergeant Marc LaPorte said provisional warrants were issued Friday night for the two Canadians.
”We knew they were wanted in the States but we have to wait until a provisional warrant is issued in Canada,” he said. “I know their affiliated to the group in Detroit but I’m not too sure at what point they crossed into Canada if it was before the FBI takedown or after.”
They were wanted for conspiracy to commit federal crimes, Sgt. LaPorte added.
”We work continuously with U.S. authorities especially when we’re dealing with public safety concerns in regard to violent groups so we will continue to work with FBI,” Sgt. LaPorte said.
Staff Sgt. Kigar said the RCMP contacted Windsor police after receiving information from the FBI that the men were living at addresses in the Southwestern Ontario city that borders Detroit. Staff Sgt. Kigar said the men were arrested on immigration violation warrants, but added the underlying reason was the FBI investigation.
Mr. Al-Sahli and Mr. Khan are currently in custody and will appear before an Ontario Superior Court judge in Windsor on Monday to face extradition to the United States.
The arrests come just days after Mujahid Carswell, the son of an imam killed in a shootout with the FBI in Detroit Wednesday, was arrested in Windsor.
An FBI complaint, the result of a two-year-investigation, alleges all three men conspired to commit federal crimes.
The two were the last of 11 men sought in a federal criminal complaint that listed several charges, including conspiracy to sell stolen goods. However, the underlying thread is that the group espoused violence and sought to establish a Shariah-law state within the United States.
Also charged in the complaint was Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a leader of a Detroit mosque. Federal agents fatally shot him Wednesday after authorities say he resisted arrest and fired his weapon.
The FBI described Mr. Abdullah, a black Muslim, as the radical leader of a U.S. Sunni group in Detroit who expressed hatred for the government and endorsed violence.
Mr. Abdullah’s mosque says the FBI’s allegations are “utterly preposterous.”
With files from The Associated Press |
