One of the al Qaeda-linked plotters accused of scheming to blow up a bridge and derail a crowded passenger train in Canada whined yesterday that the charges against him were unfair.
“The conclusions were made based on facts and words which are only appearances,” a bearded Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, said in French during a brief appearance in a Montreal courtroom
Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, 35, received “directions and guidance” from members of al Qaeda in Iran, Canadian investigators said. The Iranian government has denied any involvement.
Charges against the pair include conspiring to carry out an attack and murder people in association with a terrorist group.
Esseghaier refused to be represented by a court- appointed lawyer and did not enter a plea. Jaser appeared in court earlier yesterday in Toronto and also did not enter a plea.
“I don’t know nothing. Let the police do their job,” Jaser’s father, Mohammed Jaser, said outside court.
Sources told The Post the suspects planned to derail Amtrak’s Maple Leaf train, which departs from Penn Station daily, when it reached a bridge over the Niagara River at the falls.