Father and son from Toronto accused of planning terror attack due back in court Thursday

A father and son accused of conspiring with the Islamic State to plan a terror attack in Toronto are due back in court on Thursday.

Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, and his son, Mostafa Eldidi, 26, were arrested in Richmond Hill last week and face nine different terrorism charges, including conspiracy to commit murder on behalf of the terror group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Both suspects appeared virtually for bail hearings at a Newmarket courtroom on Tuesday afternoon but the proceedings were put over until 9 a.m. ET Thursday to give them more time to retain lawyers.

The RCMP announced the charges on July 31 and said that the two men were “in the advanced stages of planning a serious, violent attack in Toronto.”

The alleged attack was intended to target Toronto, but the exact nature of the threat is banned from publication. The RCMP did confirm that an axe and machete were found with the two men in their Richmond Hill hotel room.

Federal government reviewing how Toronto terror suspects arrived in Canada

Most charges relate to activities allegedly occurring in Canada, but the elder Eldidi is also charged with one count of aggravated assault outside Canada.

The RCMP has confirmed that the father is a Canadian citizen, while the son is not. The police force is waiting for confirmation on Mostafa Eldidi’s status.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc has said federal departments are reviewing how the two men with alleged ties to ISIS entered the country undetected. LeBlanc says the Public Safety and Immigration Departments, which work together to screen applicants looking to move to Canada, are working to establish a timeline of events regarding the accused men.

LeBlanc said the government will have more to say about the chronology of events but warned that it would be irresponsible to release information that could interfere with the criminal investigation and the prosecution’s ability to conduct a successful trial. 

Last week, NDP MP Alistair MacGregor sent a letter to the chair asking for a meeting to investigate the matter.

He wrote that there are “serious questions” about how the elder suspect was able to enter Canada, become a citizen and “remain undetected for many years.” 

With files from The Canadian Press