FBI arrest Canadians tied to controversial U.S. mosque

WINDSOR, Ont. -- Two Canadian men wanted by the FBI in connection to a radical mosque in Detroit were arrested by authorities in this country on Saturday.

Yassir Ali Khan, 30, and Mohammad Philistine, 33 - also known as Mohammad Al-Sahli and Mohammad Palestine - were arrested around 8 a.m. Saturday, according to an FBI news release.

Authorities have been searching for the men following the death this past week of the leader of a fundamentalist Islamic group, who was killed in a shootout with FBI agents after a raid on a warehouse in Dearborn, Mich.

The pair were picked up without incident by Windsor police and RCMP's Immigration Task Force, the release said, adding both men were being held until an immigration and extradition hearing could take place. The FBI said that hearing was scheduled for Monday.

The Windsor police tactical squad surrounded a house in the southern Ontario city earlier this week to arrest 30-year-old Mujahid Carswell, also known as Mujahid Abdullah, a third man wanted in connection to Detroit mosque.

It was Carswell's father, Luqman Ameen Abdullah, who was killed in the shootout with FBI agents.

The FBI has charged 11 people with various federal felonies, none of which is tied to terrorism.

U.S. authorities allege Abdullah and his followers were part of a Sunni Muslim group with the mission of establishing a separate Islamic nation within the United States.

"The 11 defendants are members of a group that is alleged to have engaged in violent activity over a period of many years, and known to be armed," the U.S. Department of Justice said in an earlier news release.

On Friday, the lawyer for the two newly arrested men, Pat Ducharme, said his clients were not fleeing authorities and were in the city.

"They're not on the run; they're not hiding," Ducharme said.

"They live here in this community. They are citizens of Canada, and I expect them to be treated within the parameters of the law, no matter what anybody thinks they've done."