A 26-year-old Toronto man accused of plotting a deadly ISIS-inspired rampage previously lived in Egypt and once studied at a U.S. university, CBC News has learned.
Mostafa Eldidi and his father, Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, were arrested last month and charged with terrorism offences over what police described as a plan to carry out “a serious, violent attack in Toronto.”
On Thursday, Mostafa Eldidi’s lawyer, Nate Jackson, appeared in court on his behalf for the first time. He told the court he would be meeting with his new client in person in jail on Friday.
“I look forward to vigorously defending Mostafa Eldidi’s innocence,” Jackson told CBC.
The RCMP have said the elder Eldidi, 62, holds Canadian citizenship, but that his son does not.
While little is known about Mostafa Eldidi’s past, his social media presence provides some clues about his whereabouts in recent years.
He studied at Iowa Wesleyan University, a now-defunct private liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.
“Our records do not indicate he earned a degree,” the University of Iowa’s registrar’s office said in an email. The university has handled transcript requests for Iowa Wesleyan since the school closed last year.
“[Mostafa Eldidi] attended Iowa Wesleyan University in spring of 2020. We do not have any other records or information beyond that.”
It’s not clear when he came to Canada, but a Facebook picture posted in April 2021 appears to show Mostafa Eldidi, with his distinctive long, curly hair, in front of the east Toronto detached house now listed in court records as the family’s residence.
A man who identified himself outside the home as Mostafa’s brother earlier this week declined to comment on the criminal case.
In June 2021, Mostafa Eldidi shared an image of the Canadian flag on his Facebook profile. “Fight for this flag till I die,” he wrote.
A Facebook friend who recalled bonding with Mostafa Eldidi over video games, said that earlier in his 20s, Mostafa lived in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
Representatives for both Egypt’s embassy in Ottawa and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to emailed questions about whether Mostafa Eldidi and his father hold Egyptian citizenship.
Police allege ties to ISIS
CBC previously reported that according to sources, both men recorded a video pledging allegiance to ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), while holding an axe and a machete, in front of the extremist group’s flag.
Court documents show Mostafa Eldidi is charged with possession of a machete, “for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with a terrorist group,” the self-styled Islamic State. His father faces the same charge for alleged possession of an axe.
“We’re pretty confident how close they were to moving from simply having those tools and then moving on to actioning that threat,” RCMP Supt. James Parr told reporters in July, days after the pair were arrested in a hotel in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto.
The two men each face one count of conspiracy to commit murder and other terrorism-related charges.
The federal opposition has recently peppered the government with questions surrounding the Eldidis’ immigration status.
MPs of all stripes agreed this week to investigate how the two men were allowed into the country despite claims that the father had taken part in a violent assault overseas.
Ahmed Eldidi also faces a charge of aggravated assault. The attack is listed in court records as having occurred outside of Canada in June 2015. An ISIS propaganda video posted online that same month shows a man dressed in black using a sword to dismember a motionless victim in an orange jumpsuit.
WARNING: Video contains descriptions of graphic violence | MPs unanimously voted in favour of an investigation into how Ahmed and Mostafa Eldidi — a father and son accused of plotting a terrorist attack in Toronto — got into Canada. Especially in light of a graphic ISIS video allegedly linked to the father from years earlier.
Government officials have not confirmed whether the elder Eldidi had already come to Canada by 2015.
The House of Commons standing committee on public safety and national security voted unanimously Tuesday to study the Eldidi case and to question the ministers of public safety and immigration and other senior security and intelligence officials.
Separately, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said this week he’s looking into whether the father’s citizenship should be revoked.
Father asks to see his son in jail
Appearing via video link in a Newmarket, Ont., in the courtroom on Thursday, Mostafa Eldidi spoke in English to confirm his name and date of birth.
His father later appeared, speaking through an Arabic interpreter. Ahmed Eldidi said he hadn’t yet retained a lawyer.
In English, he made a request directly to the judge.
“Can I see my son, please?” the elder Eldidi asked.
“No,” Justice of the Peace Linda DeBartolo replied. “The answer is ‘no.’ … There’s a court order that you are not to communicate with your son, by any means or any persons. Do you understand that?” she asked.
“Yes, I do,” he said.
Both accused remain in custody pending a bail hearing.