- Sohail Qureshi
Sohail Qureshi is a Canadian citizen arrested in May 2007 in
Kabul, Afghanistan on charges of involvement with a larger Canadian group supporting the insurgency against theInvasion of Afghanistan .Khan, Adnan R. & Nicholas Kohler,Macleans , "A Canadian Spy", June 11 2007]Early life
Qureshi grew up in
Manchester, England , and immigrated to Canada as a youth with his parents and sister. The family lived in a number of cities, includingPrince Albert, Saskatchewan , before settling down inCalgary, Alberta where his father opened a medical clinic and his mother worked as the receptionist.He graduated with a degree in
computer science from theUniversity of Calgary in June 2006 [Toronto Star , [http://www.thestar.com/News/article/213349 Arrested Canadian 'talked of jihad', May 12, 2007] , but wasn't able to find a job in his field upon completing school and took a packing job with a localcourier company . In February 2007, he took a trip to Pakistan promising to return in April.Bell, Stewart.National Post , [http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=735cdea8-fd11-42b0-be95-cab6087cb68c Albertan in Afghan jail may face trial] , May 12, 2007] During that time he crossed into Afghanistan several times, traveling around the country.Arrest
Although initial reports suggested that the 24-year old had been stepping off a bus when Afghan police apprehended him, Kabul's 9th Police District headquarters have since stated that he was arrested sitting in a taxi on Bagram Road, on the outskirt's of the city between 9-10pm. He was alleged to be carrying a notebook that contained notes about the German military base in
Mazar-e-Sharif and contact information for Pakistani militants. He was also accused of transporting money toHezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin .Afghan
Ministry of the Interior spokesman GeneralManan Faraie said that Qureshi was suspected of being "somehow connected to al-Qaeda or the Taliban", and others reported that he had been planning asuicide bombing to avenge a brother. He was held in Policharki prison. [Hamilton, Dwight. "Terror Threat: International and Homegrown Terrorists and Their Threat to Canada", 2007. pp. 89]CTV , [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071005/Sohail_Qureshi_071005/20071105?hub=TopStories Calgary man held in Kabul jail deported to Canada] , November 5, 2007]Release
Two weeks after Qureshi was arrested, Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper had a scheduled meeting with Afghan presidentHamid Karzai , but chose not to bring up the subject of the imprisonment.He was cleared of all wrong-doing, and was
deported to Canada onOctober 9 , 2007 since he had overstayed his alloted travel time in May. [CBC, [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/11/05/calgary-afghanistan.html Calgary man released from Kabul jail] , November 5 2007]External links
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