Tunisian man arrested in the U.S. in connection with the Via train terror plot

NEW YORK, N.Y. – A third man has been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to attack a Via Rail train that travels between the U.S. and Canada.

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York says Tunisian national Ahmed Abassi has been charged with fraudulently applying for a visa in order to remain in the U.S. to facilitate an “act of international terrorism.”

The department says Abassi, who previously lived in Canada, travelled to the U.S. in mid-March, where he was arrested on April 22.

The FBI alleges Abassi was unaware that one of his associates was an undercover FBI agent who was privy to the details of the terror plot.

U.S. authorities are expected to release more information in the case later today.

Two Canadian residents — Raed Jaser, 35 of Toronto, and Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal — already face terrorism-related charges in what the RCMP have called a plot guided by al-Qaida elements in Iran.