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 RCMP and Ottawa police remove evidence from a rowhouse in west-end Ottawa, where two residents were arrested Wednesday on terrorism-related charges after a months-long probe into an alleged al-Qaida cell. (Errol McGihon, QMI Agency) |
OTTAWA – Two people have been arrested on terrorism-related charges in Ottawa's Carlingwood area after a months-long probe into an alleged al-Qaida cell.
The RCMP led the investigation — dubbed "Project Samosa” — focusing on the Ottawa-based cell involving at least two men, QMI Agency has learned from sources close to the probe.
One of the men arrested allegedly has ties to al-Qaida overseas. Police released no details of the investigation or the alleged terrorist plot, but according to sources, it involved a bomb.
Ottawa police and RCMP officers raided a rowhouse at 91 Esterlawn Pvt., near Woodroffe and Carling avenues, shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday. Investigators removed at least three computers, other electronic gear and papers from the home later that afternoon.
Neighbours said a man and a woman lived at the house for about a year.
“I noticed about 7 a.m. this morning when I came to get my paper that there were several police cars out,” said one next-door neighbour who identified herself as Louise.
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“We figured it was something major because it was Ottawa Police and RCMP.”
She said the man and woman who lived at the home, whom she guessed are between 35 to 40 years old, were not well known to neighbours.
“It's quite scary and overwhelming right now. We just found out (about the terrorism charges). You don't expect that, you know, next door.”
Mary Surtees, another neighbour who lives across the street, said police swarmed the house at about 6:45 a.m. Officers approached the rowhouse from the front and back. Though she didn't see any arrests made, she said police searched the late-model Mazda parked at the residence before having it pulled from the scene on a flatbed truck.
The licence plate is registered to Misbahuddin Ahmed, who is also listed as living at that address.
Ahmed is an X-ray technician at the Civic hospital.
“This guy came with remarkable credentials from Montreal,” said Guy Morency, Ahmed's supervisor. “Our reference checks showed he was an excellent technologist.”
Morency said he never received a complaint about Ahmed since he started in 2008.
He's on vacation and heard what happened on the news.
“What I saw was a shock,” he said.
Police have not released the names of the people in custody.
Upon hearing news of the charges, next-door neighbour Nathan Aubie said he was startled.
“It's kind of really surprising,” he said. “It is really worrisome. I don't expect this to be happening around where I live, though it doesn't seem like a localized problem.”
Though she admits the events are troubling, Surtees is taking the everything in stride.
“It doesn't bother me at all.” she said, “because it's all over the world and, you know, it's no different here than anywhere else.”
Another neighbour, Alison James, thought at first the police were conducting a drug bust until she saw the number of police at the scene and realized it was a joint operation. Born in the U.K. during the Second World War, she too seemed unfazed by the prospect of would-be terrorists living in her neighbourhood.
“This is the capital of Canada. It's not unexpected that there would be security issues in this town,” she said. “In my own neighbourhood, well, yeah, it's a bit of a surprise today for sure.”
Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien shared the sentiment.
“As the capital of Canada, we're not immune to that (terrorism). I was asked awhile ago what would keep me from sleeping at night. And it's what I don't know about terrorism and the threats against the city,” he said.
“I'm thankful for the various public safety agencies, including the Ottawa police, for doing such a good job, for doing all that they do.”
Though residents at the scene were chatty, those at 220 Woodridge Cres., where police executed a second raid at around noon, were very quiet. Residents coming and leaving the multi-storey apartment building had little information about who lived in unit 702 on the seventh floor. One woman who did told QMI Agency she wouldn't say anything until she had a chance to speak to her friends. She wouldn't say who lived there.
The RCMP have called a press conference for Thursday and said more arrests are anticipated as the investigation unfolds.
The suspects are expected to appear in court Thursday. Metal detectors have been set up outside Courtroom 6 at the Ottawa courthouse.
kenneth.jackson@sunmedia.ca