Canadian man with ties to Bin Laden arrested in Montreal: Report

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - A Somali-born Canadian man with past links to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been arrested in Montreal after allegedly threatening to kill "a large number of people," CTV News reported Thursday.

Mohammed Abdullah Warsame, 51, was apprehended after he allegedly told a staff member at a shelter serving Montreal's homeless community that he wanted to commit a large-scale attack.

Montreal police responded to the scene and informed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), who took over the investigation.

Warsame has been charged with uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm and appeared in court Thursday, the report said.

According to US officials, Warsame became a Canadian citizen before traveling to Afghanistan in 2000, where he trained at al-Qaeda camps near Kabul, met bin Laden, and worked at an al-Qaeda guesthouse and clinic.

He later moved to the US and maintained contact with al-Qaeda associates. In 2009, he pleaded guilty in a US court to supporting the terror group and was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison.

After serving about a year, he was deported to Canada in 2010.