Man with al-Qaida ties likely to plead guilty to terror offence in Montreal: lawyer

By Canadian Press on July 14, 2025.

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MONTRÉAL — A man with ties to al-Qaida who allegedly threatened to bomb public transit has waived his right to a bail hearing.

Mohamed Abdullah Warsame, 51, appeared in court by video conference from the Rivière-des-Prairies detention centre in Montreal.

Warsame has been charged with uttering threats after allegedly telling an employee at a Montreal homeless shelter he wanted to build bombs and detonate them on public transit.

Last week a federal prosecutor invoked a little-used provision on terrorism in the Criminal Code that could result in Warsame receiving a sentence of life in prison if he is found guilty.

His lawyer Vincent Petit told Quebec court Judge Joëlle Roy there is a “realistic probability” Warsame will plead guilty.

Warsame was ordered detained, and his next court date is scheduled for Oct. 1.

The RCMP have said Warsame pleaded guilty in Minnesota in 2009 to providing material support to the terrorist organization al-Qaida.