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Ahmed Abassi Arrested By FBI In VIA Rail Terrorism Plot

Third Arrest Made In VIA Terror Plot
A VIA train travels west after departing Union Station Thursday August 18, 2011. VIA commuters are holding meetings to figure out why federal legislation that allows commuting to be tax deductible is spotty with them. Some are getting the benefit, others who are made to pay are asking why. (Photo by Tara Walton/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
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A VIA train travels west after departing Union Station Thursday August 18, 2011. VIA commuters are holding meetings to figure out why federal legislation that allows commuting to be tax deductible is spotty with them. Some are getting the benefit, others who are made to pay are asking why. (Photo by Tara Walton/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

U.S. authorities have arrested a third suspect who they believe is linked to a plot to blow up a VIA train in Toronto. Two men were arrested in Montreal and Toronto in April after a police investigation. The man, Ahmed Abassi, is a Tunisian who reportedly lived in Canada but traveled to the United States, where he was arrested, AP is reporting.

The FBI has released full details on Abassi.

From the Associated Press:

NEW YORK — A third man has been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to attack a Via Rail train that travels between the U.S. and Canada.

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York says Tunisian national Ahmed Abassi has been charged with fraudulently applying for a visa in order to remain in the U.S. to facilitate an "act of international terrorism.''

The department says Abassi, who previously lived in Canada, travelled to the U.S. in mid-March, where he was arrested on April 22.

The FBI alleges Abassi was unaware that one of his associates was an undercover FBI agent who was privy to the details of the terror plot.

U.S. authorities are expected to release more information in the case later on Thursday.

Two Canadian residents — Raed Jaser, 35 of Toronto, and Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal — already face terrorism-related charges in what the RCMP have called a plot guided by al-Qaida elements in Iran.

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