TORONTO - An alleged terrorist -- with links to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden -- has been arrested in the GTA while trying to flee the country, Sun Media immigration sources say.
In one of the most significant terrorism arrests in Canada since 9/11, a man believed to be a captain of the Pakistani extremist organization Mujahedin-E-Lashkar-E-Tayyba, or LET, which is funded by Osama bin Laden and has direct ties to al-Qaida, was arrested March 16 by Canadian border service officers in Newmarket.
Intelligence sources say members of LET have been trained in Afghan terrorist camps.
Ontario immigration sources say 40-year-old Raja Ghulam Mustafa, a Pakistani national who went by the last name Murtaza, was arrested outside his home with a packed suitcase and a significant amount of cash on him.
TIPPED OFF?
After the arrest by the Canadian border service's Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre officers, Mustafa's residence was searched and a briefcase containing fraudulent documents and a laptop were seized, officials said.
It's believed Mustafa may have been tipped off that GTEC officers were investigating him, so he made plans to flee Canada to the U.S.
Officials told Sun Media Mustafa was "surprised" that he had been found by law enforcement.
Sources say Mustafa had already given his landlady notice that he would be leaving.
He is currently being held at the Toronto West Detention Centre.
In 1997, Mustafa was arrested in the U.S. but was released on a peace bond after he filed a claim for refugee status.
PHONY NAME
During that time, officials said he fled to Canada under a phony name. He was eventually able to secure refugee status here.
