Canadian Man Arrested Under Anti-Terrorism Law

A Canadian man has been arrested under the country’s anti-terrorism law, police said on Saturday.

Kevin Omar Mohamed, 23, was taken into custody with a “preventive arrest” under the Fear of Terrorism Offence section of the law, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.

Police said the arrest was not linked to the recent attacks in Brussels and there was no indication of a domestic attack.

Mohamed’s lawyer, Anser Farooq, said Mohamed was arrested on Friday and appeared in court in Brampton, west of Toronto, on Saturday.

Farooq said the arrest was triggered on the basis of allegations that his client was planning to go overseas to pursue terrorism, though he noted his client had not been charged with this. He did not say who made the allegations.

The National Post newspaper reported that a Canadian police officer testified to a provincial court judge that the investigation was probing five anti-terrorism offenses.

The article said the officer told the court that police had reasonable grounds to believe Mohamed would leave Canada to participate in terrorism, advocate or promote terrorism and facilitate terrorist activity. He has not been charged with these offenses.

According to the police statement, Mohamed was only charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a weapon dangerous to public peace.

Farooq said the weapon in question was a knife.

Mohamed will appear in court again on Tuesday. There is no immediate indication on how he intended to plead.