Police make Toronto airport “terrorism” arrest

Inspector Keith Finn (right) of the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement …

TORONTO (Reuters) – A man was arrested for “terrorism-related offenses” at Toronto’s international airport just before he was about to board an airplane bound for North Africa, Canadian police said on Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said 25-year-old Canadian citizen Mohamed Hassan Hersi was headed to Somalia to join al Shabaab, which police said is a hard-line Islamist group that has ties to al Qaeda.
“Al Shabaab is a listed terrorist entity,” said RCMP Inspector Keith Finn at a press conference. “Any participation in that group would constitute an offense.”
Hersi was arrested Tuesday evening at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, moments before he was to board a one-way flight to Cairo via London, the RCMP said. They said Hersi planned to travel to Somalia from Cairo.
Somalia has replaced Iraq as the state most at risk from terrorist attack, according to a ranking by global analysts Maplecroft.