Ottawa--A Canadian jury found two men guilty Friday of plotting to derail a Toronto to New York passenger train to protest the deployment of Western troops to Afghanistan.
Tunisian national Chiheb Esseghaier was found guilty of all five charges against him, including conspiracy to participate in or contribute to terrorist activities.
Raed Jaser, a permanent Canadian resident of Palestinian descent, was found guilty of three of four charges but, after 10 days of deliberations, the jury remained deadlocked on a conspiracy charge.
Jaser's lawyer told the court his client was only ever interested in swindling Esseghaier and an undercover FBI agent they believed was a wealthy Arab businessman, according to public broadcaster CBC.
The prosecution said the two men planned to cut a large hole in a railway bridge in order to derail the passenger train, killing and injuring dozens of people.
It also alleged that Esseghaier, who was doing doctoral research in Canada, acted on instructions from overseas extremists. The two men, both in their 30s, were arrested in 2013.
Both face potential life in prison at their upcoming sentencing.
"Our client, as I said, is disappointed with the outcome," said Jaser's lawyer John Norris, vowing to appeal the verdict after the sentencing.
Crown prosecutor Croft Michaelson praised the jury for having "devoted so much time and effort to hearing this prosecution... on very, very complicated legal matters and come back with a verdict."
The jury's inability to come to a decision on the one charge "means that technically we have the option to move forward and have a trial on that count," he added.
AFP
