[LINK] "Father of VIA terror suspect came forward with concerns, imam says"

[rfmcdonald]

Stewart Bell's National Post article describing how word of one of the two people arrested yesterday on terrorism charges came from the community is typical of the coverage given today. The police and media seem to have taken care to emphasize that not only is terrorism something Canadian Muslims as a whole don't tolerate, but that terrorism is cause for even intimates of suspects to make reports to the police. Trying to avoid a conflagration is a good thing.

A Toronto Muslim leader said Tuesday the father of one of the suspects arrested over an alleged plot to attack a VIA Rail train had approached him with concerns about his son’s hardening views of Islam.

Mohammed Robert Heft said the father had asked repeatedly for help with his son, Raed Jaser, 35. The discussions took place between 2009 and 2011, while the father was living in the basement of Mr. Heft’s home in Markham, Ont.

“He never mentioned anything to me about violence, he only mentioned to me about being rigid in his understanding of Islam, and it was concerning him because it was becoming intolerable in terms of having discussions about religion with his son.”

Mr. Heft was one of many imams and Muslim community leaders who were briefed by the RCMP on Monday about the arrests of Mr. Jaser and his co-accused Chiheb Esseghaier of Montreal. They have been charged with taking part in an al-Qaeda-linked plot to derail a passenger train on the New York to Toronto route.

But Mr. Heft said he did not realize his personal connection to the case until he saw photos of the Jaser family on Tuesday. The head of the non-profit group Paradise Forever, Mr. Heft said he was not the imam who had tipped off police about Mr. Jaser, triggering the investigation that lead to his arrest.

[. . .]

The imam who first brought forward concerns about Mr. Jaser wants to remain anonymous, his lawyer said Tuesday. Naseer Syed said the imam came to him more than a year ago about the suspect’s conduct. “It was enough of a concern and it passed a certain threshold than the imam felt comfortable with,” he said.

The lawyer said he then notified the appropriate authorities. On Monday, the RCMP credited the imam’s tip with helping bring terrorism-related charges against Mr. Jaser and Mr. Esseghaier.