Toronto terror suspect charged with multiple war crimes: RCMP

TORONTO — A man facing terror charges for allegedly plotting an attack in Toronto with his son is now also facing multiple war crimes charges, police said Tuesday.

The RCMP said 62-year-old Ahmed Eldidi — who was arrested along with his son earlier this year for alleged terrorism offences — faces four war crimes charges, including murder, mutilation and torture against a protected person in a “non-international armed conflict.”

It’s the first national security investigation where war crimes charges have been laid in Canada, the force said in a press release.

The RCMP declined to provide further comment on the charges or the Eldidis, citing the ongoing investigation.

Eldidi and his son, 26-year-old Mostafa Eldidi, were arrested in Richmond Hill, Ont., in July on nine terrorism charges, including conspiracy to commit murder on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The RCMP had said at the time that the two men were in the advanced stages of planning a “serious, violent attack” in Toronto.

The Mounties said Tuesday that the elder Eldidi appeared in court on Monday in relation to the new charges.

The elder Eldidi had been the subject of particular scrutiny in the wake of the arrests after Global News reported that he had allegedly appeared in an ISIS video in 2015, and still went on to obtain Canadian citizenship. The Canadian Press has not independently reviewed the video.

Following the arrests, the federal public safety minister provided a House of Commons committee with a detailed timeline of the pair’s immigration file, confirming that the elder Eldidi arrived in Canada in February 2018.

According to the government’s timeline, he had made a refugee claim in June of that year, and became a citizen in May 2024 before his arrest just months later.

The son, who is not a Canadian citizen, was first rejected for a study permit in July 2019. He then entered Canada in February 2020 on a U.S. student visa and applied for asylum, later obtaining refugee status in July 2022, according to the timeline.

Minister Dominic LeBlanc had told the committee at the time that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had become aware of the threat posed by the two men in June and the minister was briefed on July 24.

The Canadian Border Services Agency, CSIS and the Immigration Department launched a review in August to determine whether they should make any changes to better detect individuals like the alleged terror suspects.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2024.

Rianna Lim, The Canadian Press