A Canadian citizen for whom Prime Minister Jean Chretien once went to bat is on a list of nine al Qaeda members most wanted by the United States. The list named nine Arabs - five Saudi-born and four Egyptian-born - as the most wanted al Qaeda members. Name Number 9 was that of Ahmad Sa'id al-Kadr, or Abu Abdurrahman, 53, an Egyptian-born Canadian citizen who operated Afghanistan operations of Human Concern International, a Canadian-headquartered charity. Kadr was detained by Pakistani police in connection with the Nov. 9, 1995, bombing of the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad. While he was in prison, Prime Minister Jean Chretien was on a state visit to Pakistan and raised Kadr's case with then-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Kadr was released a short time later and joined bin Laden in Afghanistan.
Good to have friends in high places, isn't it. I'm sure he'd do the same for you or me, too. |