Al-Qaeda link in plan to derail train Target: Canadian police said they had arrested and charged two men with an "al Qaeda-supported" plot to derail a passenger train. Two men have been arrested in Canada in connection with what police say was a plot backed by al-Qaeda to derail a passenger train in Toronto. Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, and Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto, both foreign nationals, were allegedly planning to attack a passenger train, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. Charges filed against the two include conspiring to carry out an attack and conspiring with a terrorist group to murder, though few details about the plot were revealed. A bail hearing for the pair was due to be held on Tuesday. Assistant Mounted Police Commissioner James Malizia said the pair "were receiving support from al-Qaeda elements located in Iran," but "there's no indication that these attacks were state sponsored." When asked to describe the kind of support offered, he replied: "Direction and guidance. Had this plot been carried out, it would have resulted in innocent people being killed or seriously injured. While the RCMP believed that these individuals had the capacity and intent to carry out these criminal acts, there was no imminent threat to the general public. The suspects' plans were "not based on their ethnic origins but on an ideology," police said. Chief Superintendent Jennifer Strachan said the duo, who had been under surveillance since August, planned "to derail a passenger train" in Toronto, though she would not specify which route. "We are alleging these individuals took steps and conducted activities to initiate a terrorist attack," she said. They watched trains and railways in the Greater Toronto area. Police emphasised that an attack had not been imminent. "While the RCMP believed that these individuals had the capacity and intent to carry out these criminal acts, there was no imminent threat to the general public, rail employees, train passengers or infrastructure," it said. Dubbed Operation Smooth, the investigation was part of a cross-border operation involving Canadian law enforcement agencies, the FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security, as well as provincial and municipal police forces in Quebec and Ontario. Canada's Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said the "arrests demonstrate that terrorism continues to be a real threat to Canada." Canada's House of Commons is to debate legislation that would expand the powers of police and intelligence agencies in suspected terrorism cases. This month, police said two young Canadians from London, Ontario, died in January while taking part in an attack on a gas plant in Algeria. In 2006, police arrested 18 people in and around Toronto who they said were part of an al-Qaeda-affiliated group that planned attacks in Canada. Eleven were convicted or pleaded guilty.