Neighbour recalls several confrontations with terror suspect

MONTREAL – An ex-neighbour recalls several confrontations with one of the men charged in an alleged terror plot because his prayers would keep him awake at all hours of the night.

This is one of several problems Chiheb Esseghaier allegedly had with the people who shared the same Montreal apartment building until a few months ago.

Esseghaier’s former next-door neighbour in the thin-walled, low-rent building says he knocked on Esseghaier’s door several times at around 3 a.m. to ask him to stop making so much noise.

Michel says he repeatedly complained to the superintendent about the man, who allegedly exhibited other strange behaviour.

He says another neighbour told him they smelled something burning inside Esseghaier’s unit and they discovered he was trying to dry a shirt over the elements on his stove.

Montreal’s La Presse newspaper reports that the Tunisian man, one of two people charged in the train derailment plot, was eventually evicted in December.

La Presse reports that Esseghaier was also caught cooking on the flames of his barbecue in his living room because he said it was too windy outside.

Michel says Esseghaier shared the unit with another man, who moved out a couple of months before the suspect.