Al-Qaeda-connected man who allegedly threatened Montreal bomb attack charged with terrorism
Mohamed Abdullah Warsame could face life in prison, if convicted
A convicted al-Qaeda supporter who allegedly threatened to kill a large number of people in Montreal has now been charged with a terrorist offence.
Mohamed Abdullah Warsame, 51, was charged last month after allegedly telling an employee at a Montreal homeless shelter that he wanted to build bombs and detonate them on public transit.
A federal Crown prosecutor has now upgraded a charge of uttering threats to a terrorism offence.
Prosecutor Samuel Monfette-Tessier says he's invoking a section of the Criminal Code that would allow the court to sentence the accused to life in prison.
Monfette-Tessier says he thinks the case marks the first time in Quebec that prosecutors have used the Criminal Code section to upgrade an existing charge to punish someone for alleged terrorist activity.
Warsame was psychologically evaluated after his arrest, and the results have been sealed at the defence's request.
The RCMP have said Warsame pleaded guilty in Minnesota in 2009 to providing material support to the terrorist organization al-Qaeda.