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Toronto man arrested in G20 bomb plot
By Michel Comte (AFP) – 2 hours ago
OTTAWA — A 37-year-old Toronto man was charged on Wednesday with possession of explosives alleged to be part of a plot to bomb a G20 summit being held this week in the Canadian city, police said.
In a statement, the Integrated Security Unit (ISU) responsible for summit security said Byron Sonne, 37, was arrested after a raid on a home in midtown Toronto, several kilometers (miles) from the G20 summit site.
"The investigation is ongoing as part of the Toronto Police Service's efforts to ensure a safe and secure G20 Summit," said a statement. "There is no risk to public safety and this time."
ISU spokesman Sergeant Tim Burrows told AFP the charges -- intimidation, threat against the justice system, possession of explosives and dangerous weapons, and mischief -- are "very serious."
"We had information that linked this to the G20 and G8," Burrows said.
Local media said more than 50 officers were involved in the raid on the million-dollar Toronto home midday Tuesday. Officers continued to search the home on Wednesday, Burrows said.
Meanwhile, the suspect was to appear in court Wednesday morning.
Canadian police are being extra vigilant in the run-up to the back-to-back June 25-27 G8 and G20 summits in the Toronto region.
Some 20,000 policemen from across Canada have been assigned to secure summit sites in Toronto and Huntsville, north of the metropolis.
On Tuesday, authorities launched a hunt for a small black car believed to have been involved in shots fired in a restricted zone where G20 leaders will meet in downtown Toronto.
No one was injured, and "there is no information at this point to suggest that it had anything to do with the G20," Toronto police Constable Wendy Drummond told AFP.
"It appears the shots were fired into the air," she said. Shell casings were found at the scene.
The incident occurred only two blocks from the Toronto convention center where G20 leaders will meet.
The shots were fired inside an area that will be closed to traffic during the summit, but outside a three-meter-high (10-foot) perimeter fence around the summit site itself that will be accessible only to delegates and media covering the event.
Earlier this month, police also probed a suspicious purchase of a large amount of chemical fertilizer that could be used to make explosives.
Counterterrorism officers and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had taken over the investigation from the local authorities in the Niagara region, southwest of Toronto.
The man bought the ammonium nitrate from a store in London in southern Ontario on May 26 but failed to produce identification as required by law.
It turned out the man just wanted the substance to grow plants.
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