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| Great White North |
| Abdullah Khadr arrested |
| 2005-12-18 |
| Abdullah Khadr, the eldest son of a reputed Canadian Al Qaeda financier, was arrested by the RCMP yesterday on terrorism-related charges at the request of American authorities. The 25-year-old Canadian recently returned from Pakistan where he was held for 14 months without charge. He was arrested last night after agreeing to meet an RCMP officer at a McDonald's near his Scarborough apartment, his relatives said last night. His mother, Maha Elsamnah tried to intervene in the arrest and was also taken into custody, but later released without charges. Khadr's brother, 22-year-old Abdurahman was also at the fast food restaurant and took pictures of the arrest with his cell phone camera. An RCMP spokesperson confirmed the arrest last night but said they were only acting at the behest of American authorities. âWe arrested Mr. Khadr on the grounds of a provisional warrant issued by the department of justice, after the US government petitioned the Canadian courts to allow for his arrest,â said Corporal Michele Paradis. âThe process had nothing to do with the RCMP, we received it today and acted on it.â But according to court documents the RCMP has been investigating both Khadr and his sister Zaynab, who also returned to Canada earlier this year, under terrorism provisions of the Criminal Code introduced in 2001. Khadr's Edmonton-based lawyer Dennis Edney said last night Khadr now faces two charges: possession and use of a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence and conspiracy to murder a U.S. national outside of the U.S. According to Western intelligence services, Khadr ran an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in the late 1990s. But in an interview with the Star he claimed he's not a terrorist and only attended the notorious Khaldan camp in Afghanistan when he was 13. âI just want everybody to know I have nothing to do with anything,â he said in an interview earlier this month. Khadr was detained by Pakistani authorities in October 2004. Until his return to Canada Dec. 2, his whereabouts had been unknown. The Toronto Star revealed the fact that Khadr had quietly returned, accompanied by Canadian officials. He was questioned at the airport by RCMP investigators, then dropped off at his grandparents' home in Scarborough and told he was a âfree man,â according to his relatives and lawyer. But a U.S. source told the Star that American authorities were looking to issuing a provisional warrant for Khadr's arrest. The following week Khadr told the Star in an interview that he was tortured during the first 48 hours of his detention. He also described the visits he said he had from several Canadian and American security officials. During that interview another lawyer representing Khadr, Nate Whitling, said if Khadr is charged, he would argue that any information provided during these interview sessions in Pakistan would be inadmissible due to his harsh treatment and the fact that he was never charged or provided a lawyer. Khadr is the eldest son of Egyptian-born Canadian Ahmed Said Khadr, who was killed in a battle with Pakistani forces in 2003. There are six children in the family that was raised traveling between Scarborough, Pakistan and Afghanistan. They grew up alongside Osama bin Laden's children. Khadr is being held at Toronto's West Detention Centre and will appear in court this morning for a bail hearing. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 "I'll take a McExtradition please" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-12-18 13:29 |
| #2 Gitmo is beautiful this time of year |
| Posted by: Gruck Glavising 2005-12-18 11:32 |
| #1 I remember seeing an interview with this guy a year or so ago. He claimed he worked for the CIA and I think he said he acted as a prisoner at Guantanamo to try and get information for them. |
| Posted by: BillH 2005-12-18 08:38 |