Former Canadian Engineering Student Now Accused of Trying to Join Al Nusra

The Ontario student who was arrested over the weekend by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers on suspicions he was planning to engage in terrorism abroad has been formally charged with participating in the activities of a terrorist group.

Following a two-year investigation, the RCMP anti-terror unit is accusing 23-year-old Kevin Omar Mohamed, of traveling to Turkey in April 2014 to join jihadist group Jabhat al Nusra, the Syrian branch of al Qaeda.

Mohamed appeared in a Brampton courtroom Tuesday morning to face the new terrorism charge, on top of the two weapons charges laid against him a few days ago. Police allege he was carrying and concealing a hunting knife at the time of his arrest.

"Thanks to our collaborative efforts through our [partners], we were able to not only disrupt this threat to our country's national security, but also to bring this individual before the Canadian justice system," the RCMP wrote in a press release after the hearing.

The RCMP had not initially charged Mohamed with a terrorism-related offense, and instead pursued a preventative peace bond against him that would place restrictions on his behavior, that could have included things like not going on the internet or leaving the country. But that peace bond was dropped in favor of the terrorism charge.

Mohamed, a former engineering student at the University of Waterloo, had been active on Twitter using the name Abu Jayyid, posting frequently about jihad, the Syrian war, ISIS, and other entities including al Qaeda and al Nusra. The day before his arrest, the day after the attacks in Brussels, Mohamed tweeted, "Where can I get the Brussels airport MOD on Call of Duty?"

Under recent anti-terror legislation, also known as Bill C-51, the Canadian Criminal Code was amended to allow police to detain people based on suspicions that they "may" engage in terrorism.

Mohamed's lawyer, Anser Farooq, said the terrorism charge, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, came as a surprise to both of them on Tuesday morning.

"He was expecting to go home today, we even brought clothing," Farooq told reporters outside the courthouse. "It makes no sense from the perspective of the defense that if the [prosecutor] comes forward and says they are going to offer you a peace bond, that you don't take it … It would have made sense to take the peace bond and go home."

Farooq expects to receive disclosure of the evidence Mohamed from the prosecution over the next week, and Mohamed will return to court for a bail hearing in the middle of April, at which point he's confident he will be released on bail.

"I see no reason why not," said Farooq. "I've had a lot of individuals released on bail, you had the Toronto 18 [terror plot] guys released on bail."

Farooq added that his client has been moved into solitary confinement at the jail most likely due to "safety concerns," saying that a number of people who have face terror charges have been beat up by other inmates.

Although the terror-related peace bond was dropped against Mohamed, the initial plans to use it renewed debate over the controversial anti-terror tool. Civil liberties advocates have expressed concerns over its potential for abuse by law enforcement, while some national security experts have praised it as a necessary way to prevent terror attacks.

Earlier this month, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency told a Senate committee that approximately 60 people believed to have fought with terrorist groups abroad have returned to Canada. And there are about 180 people "with a nexus to Canada" currently fighting with terror groups abroad.

Follow Rachel Browne on Twitter: @rp_browne