OTTAWA - Suspected terrorist Mohamed Harkat has been arrested by federal authorities for allegedly violating his strict bail conditions.

Paul Copeland, a lawyer for Harkat, said agents from the Canada Border Services Agency arrested Harkat at home Tuesday while he was taking a shower.

The officers said he had violated bail because his mother-in-law was no longer a full-time resident of the house where Harkat lives with his wife Sophie.

Copeland denied that constituted a breach and said he suspects the raid may have been related to a pending court case in which Harkat plans to argue for a loosening of the stringent conditions he must observe.

He must be accompanied by his wife, his mother-in-law or another person 24 hours a day. There are cameras outside the house where he lives, as well as physical surveillance, and he wears an electronic monitoring bracelet.

Harkat denies any terrorist links and was one of five men who successfully challenged a federal law last year that provided for deportation of suspects based on secret court hearings.