Reuel S. Amdur . Fatherly Harper
Citizen Special
Published: Friday, September 26, 2008
In 2003, when Abousfian Abdelrazik, a Sudanese-Canadian, returned to Sudan to visit his sick mother, he was thrown in jail, "at our request," according to a document from the Canadian Security and Intelligence Agency (CSIS). He knew Ahmed Ressam, the so-called millennium bomber, but we do not know what anyone has on Mr. Abdelrazik himself. Sudan released him from jail. Our embassy in Khartoum reported to Ottawa that Sudan told them "that keeping an innocent man in detention was a human rights violation." So Sudan was giving Canada a lesson in human rights.
Then what is keeping Mr. Abdelrazik in Sudan? Various ministers, Liberal and Conservative, have been there, but none, including then-prime minister Paul Martin, would fly him back with them. When the Sudanese government wanted to arrange themselves to have him flown home, Canada refused to pay and refused to provide an escort. Canada also will not renew his passport or provide a travel document, explaining that a travel document cannot be issued till there is a confirmed itinerary.
His ability to get a flight back is hindered by his having been placed on Interpol's list of suspected al-Qaeda operatives. Canadian officials were ...
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