Abousfian Abdelrazik

Abousfian Abdelrazik ( _ar. أبو سفيان عبدالرازق) is a Sudanese-Canadian dual citizen suspected of ties to al Qaeda. Although he has spent time in prison in Sudan and has been placed on a United Nations blacklist of al Qaeda supporters, no charges or arrest warrants are pending against him from any government, and he has never been convicted of any crime. Nevertheless, Canada has refused to grant him travel papers and has otherwise blocked his return to his home in Montreal, even after he managed to find an airline willing to transport him regardless of his listing on the U.S. no-fly list, and despite the fact that the U.N. blacklist explicitly allows for return to a country of citizenship.cite news
url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080422.wabdelrazik0428/BNStory/National/home?pageRequested=all&print=true
title=Terror claims trap Canadian in Khartoum: Marooned for five years, Abousfian Abdelrazik gets $100 a month from Canada to survive, but no passport or clearance to go home
publisher=Globe and Mail
author=Paul Koring
date=April 28, 2008
accessdate=2008-04-25
quote=] cite news
url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080912.ABDELRAZIK12/TPStory/?query=abdelrazik
title=Ottawa withholding travel papers for Canadian
publisher=Globe and Mail
author=Paul Koring
date=September 12, 2008
accessdate=2008-09-17] cite news
url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080916.ABDELRAZIK16/TPStory/?query=abdelrazik
title=Ottawa balks at travel permit for man trapped in Sudan
publisher=Globe and Mail
author=Paul Koring
date=September 16, 2008
accessdate=2008-09-17]

Abdelrazik was born in Sudan in 1962, and trained as a machinist. He was imprisoned for his political views after the 1989 military coup by Omar al-Bashir, fled to Canada as a refugee in 1990, and became a Canadian citizen in 1995. He has an ex-wife and five-year old child living in Montreal, Quebec.

Abdelrazik voluntarily testified via videolink at the trial of Ahmed Ressam, the "millennium bomber".He testified he knew Ahmed Ressam, but had no knowledge of his plans to attack the USA.

Developments in Abdelrazik's case can be followed at a webpage that is maintained for him [http://www.peoplescommission.org/abdelrazik.php] (press releases, news articles, legal file).

In the Sudan

Abdelrazik returned to the Sudan in August 2003 to visit his sick mother, and was arrested in Khartoum at the request of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). While he was in the Sudanese prison, he claims to have been interrogated by two CSIS agents, his wife divorced him and his Canadian passport expired.

He was released in July 2004, then re-arrested in November 2005, and finally released again in July 2006Brown, Jim. Canadian Press, " [http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/419282 Ottawa refuses to help Canadian in Sudan: Lawyer] ", April 28 2008] , although Canada has since refused to renew his passport, leaving him unable to travel on commercial airlines. Canada has refused to allow Sudan to transport him to Canada at their expense on a Sudanese government aircraft, and Canadian diplomats visiting Sudan have stated that they were unable to transport him home on their own private aircraft due to his presence on the UN no-fly list, although the list only applies to commercial airlines.

The Canadian government can issue temporary travel papers, although they would require Abdelrazik to fly straight home to qualify, but since 2006 he has also been on international "no-fly" lists which prevent him from taking conventional commercial flights. The Sudanese government has offered to fly him to Canada on a private plane, but Canada did not accept. According to a letter sent on April 18 2008 by the Department of Foreign Affairs to Abousfian Abdelrazik's lawyer, the Canadian government has requested the UN's 1267 Committee to remove Abdelrazik from its list of al Qaeda supporters.cite news
url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2008/05/02/sudan-delist.html
title=Ottawa trying to get Montrealer off UN terrorist list: report
publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
date=May 2, 2008
accessdate=2008-05-02] A request was made to the UN on December 10 2007, but was rejected eleven days later, meaning that at least one of the 15 members of the Security Council raised an objection. Canada has stated that it now supports removing Abdelrazik from the list, but has not clarified whether it was the country which originally asked for his inclusion.cite news
url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080516.LIST16/TPStory/TPInternational/Africa/
title=Trying to get off the UN's terrorist list described as 'Kafkaesque'
publisher=Globe and Mail
date=May 16, 2008
accessdate=2008-05-16] Critics of the no-fly list have commented that Abdelrazik's status is typical, since in practise it is far easier to be added to the list than removed.

Out of fears for his safety in the wake of recent media articles about him, on 28 April 2008, Abdelrazik took refuge in the Canadian embassy in Sudan, a situation the Canadian government describes as "temporary". Abdelrazik has also brought legal suit against the Canadian government, seeking his return.cite news
url=http://www.arabamericannews.com/news/index.php?mod=article&cat=Canada&article=1043
title=Abdelrazik suing Canada
publisher=The Arab American News
date=May 16, 2008
accessdate=2008-05-20]

On April 18 2008 the director of consular affairs in the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Mr. Abdelrazik, like all Canadian citizens, is entitled to emergency travel documents to get him home. Accordingly, on August 26 2008, Abdelrazik booked a flight to Canada on Etihad Airways, which was willing to fly him despite the fact that his presence on the U.S. no-fly list means that any airline which transports him will no longer be able to enter U.S. airspace, thus eliminating most international commercial airlines. His flight was due to leave on September 15, 2008, but Abdelrazik was not able to leave Somalia because Ottawa refused to issue him travel documents. (He was issued a special one-use emergency passport valid for only two weeks after his 2004 release, but at the time could not find an airline willing to transport him.) As of September 17 he is still in residence at the embassy in Khartoum.

Allegations

CSIS has accused him of being a member of a Montreal cell that supported Ahmed Ressam's efforts.El Akkad, Omar. Globe and Mail, [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080429.wsudanexile0429/BNStory/International/home Montrealer takes refuge in Canadian embassy] , April 29 2008]

The United States State Department has said that Abdelrazik is a personal acquaintance of Osama bin Laden, closely tied to Abu Zubaydah and attended an Afghan training camp in 1996 together with Raouf Hannachi, a charge which he denies.

References