Abdullah Ahmed Said Khadr (; born April 30, 1981) is a Canadian citizen whose alleged ties to terrorism resulted in a protracted international legal issue. Born in Canada, he grew up in Pakistan. As the oldest son of Ahmed Khadr, who had ties to the Afghani Mujahideen, Abdullah was sent to the Khalden military training camp as a boy. As a young adult, he allegedly became an arms dealer, selling illicit weapons to militants involved in the War in Afghanistan and related conflicts.

Abdullah Khadr's connections to terrorism resulted in the United States posting a $500,000 () bounty on his head. He was captured by the Pakistani military in 2004. The Pakistani government refused to extradite Khadr to the United States, but eventually struck an extradition deal with Canada. He was repatriated to Canada in 2005, and shortly after was arrested on an extradition warrant to the United States. A lengthy case ensued to prevent his further extradition. It was concluded by an appeal to the highest court in Ontario; the judges unanimously decided in October 2011 in favor of the lower court to refuse the extradition request. Khadr was released from custody after 4½ years.

Early life and education

Abdullah Khadr was born in 1981 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada as the second child and first son to Ahmed Khadr and his wife Maha el-Samnah, while his father was still in graduate school in computer science. He was the oldest of five boys, and had two sisters, one older and one much younger.

With his family, he moved as a child to Pakistan in 1985, where he largely grew up. The family frequently returned to Canada to see grandparents and other relatives. Abdullah and his siblings went to local schools and were also home-schooled by their mother.

In 1994, Khadr was sent to Khalden training camp along with his younger brother Abdurahman, where he was given the alias Hamza. Omar Nasiri later claimed to have met Abdullah in the camp's infirmary. Khadr told Nasiri about seeing Afghans in Khost blown apart while trying to salvage an unexploded bomb. Abdullah did not remember the encounter. In 1997, a dispute between the brothers was mediated by the al-Qaeda leader Abu Laith al-Libi, who earned their confidence and respect by telling them about the city of Dubai and imported Ferrari cars. Abdurahman later described him as "really cool." DNA samples from the remains of the bomber later proved it was not Khadr.

When interviewed for the 2004 documentary Son of al Qaeda, shown on PBS in the United States, Khadr acknowledged attending the Khalden training camp as a youth. But he said that a ten-year-old learning to fire an AK-47 was as common in Afghanistan then as it was for a Canadian child to learn to play hockey.

Richard J. Griffin, Assistant Secretary of State (Diplomatic Security) for the United States later <!-- when, in what context? -->called Khadr "one of the world's most dangerous men."

Time in Pakistan

In their December 2005 indictment, United States officials alleged that in 2003, Ahmed Khadr was asked to organise militants operating near the border of Shagai, Pakistan. He asked his son, 22-year-old Abdullah Khadr, to help him procure weapons, as the younger man had some experience. According to the US indictment, Khadr procured weapons for his father, and became an arms dealer, selling weapons to other militants and earning about $5000 in profit After his father Ahmed Khadr was killed on the border by Pakistani security forces in October 2003, Abdullah allegedly continued his trade in weapons.

Khadr is alleged to have purchased a forged Pakistani passport for 30,000 rupees ($600), and to have given it to his sister Zaynab for safekeeping.

In October 2004, Khadr was allegedly purchasing five Soviet 9K38 Igla Surface-to-air missiles for $1000 apiece from a 29-year-old Pakistani member of Lakshar e-Taiba. He offered to split the profit upon selling the weapons for $5000 apiece to the same man who had taught him how to acquire munitions in 2000. Khadr was arrested by the Pakistani military in Pakistan on October 15, 2004. Four days after his capture, "agents of the United States", including an FBI agent, visited the "quasi-prison" to interview Khadr. He was also questioned about Amer el-Maati, who he said had worked as a carpet salesman after al-Qaeda had refused to grant him a pension following a brain injury stemming from a 1992 car accident. Asked about Mahmoud Jaballah, Khadr said he knew him only as an Arabic tutor in Peshawar who went by the patronymic Abu Ahmed. Canadian consular officials were "mystified" when Khadr did not appear at the airport. It sent a note to the Foreign Affairs office stating, "Given subj[ect] is now not returning to Cda, grateful mission wld ask Pakistani authorities what happened, where he is, which authority is holding him, etc. etc, and a new consular visit asap". On November 23, 2005, a Boston federal district court accepted prosecutor James B. Farmer's request for a request to extradite Khadr from Canada. Eight days later the Canadian government agreed to accept Khadr from Pakistan. The timing led critics to speculate that Canada was helping the United States get around Pakistan's refusal to transfer Khadr to American forces. Two days later, Khadr agreed to another interview with FBI agents in the presence of Shourie. Court documents confirmed that he and his sister Zaynab Khadr were both under investigation by the RCMP for terrorism-related offences. Commentators expressed confusion about why they had not been charged with criminal offenses under Canadian law. During his sixteen days of freedom in Canada, Khadr was under constant RCMP surveillance.

The next day, Prime Minister Paul Martin spoke at length about Abdullah Khadr and other members of his family. He reiterated that there was only one kind of Canadian citizenship, and that Abdullah Khadr, and the other members of his family, were as entitled to all the legal protections as any other citizen.

Khadr's lawyers tried to have a publication ban bar media from reporting on the bail hearing held for the suspect. Prosecutor Robin Parker opposed this request, citing the open courts principle. Justice Anne Molloy of Ontario's Superior Court of Justice refused to order the publication ban, and ultimately denied bail. He was represented by Nathan Whitling, Dennis Edney and James Silver. In court Khadr wore a black T-shirt reading "For the Future of Islam." His maternal grandmother Fatmah el-Samnah offered to act as his surety, putting up her $300,000 house as collateral. The motion for bail was opposed by the prosecutor Robin Parker, who referred to United States claims that the forged passport Khadr had purchased in Pakistan was to allow him to travel to a country without an extradition treaty with the United States. He appeared in court shortly afterwards, where he was represented by the attorney James Silver. His extradition hearing was set to begin October 30. The government had classified evidence which was not shown to the public, but was shared with both Khadr and his lawyers; the judge Richard Mosley wrote a private summary of the information it contained. Khadr argued that the evidence was what he had said to convince Pakistani interrogators to stop torturing him.

On October 5, 2009 Khadr testified about his capture and treatment in Pakistan. Colin Freeze, writing in The Globe and Mail about Khadr's claims of torture, reported: "Ultimately, the judge will decide how to square Mr. Khadr's alleged admissions with such legal principles as the right to remain silent and the right to counsel, in determining whether any of his statements ought to count at all." Isabel Teotonio, writing in the Toronto Star, reported that Khadr testified that he was beaten and "penetrated" by a rubber paddle during the fourteen months he spent in Pakistani extrajudicial detention. Abdullah Khadr was set free after 4½ years. Khadr told reporters after his release, "I think this is going to be a new beginning for me in life."

Michelle Shephard, the Toronto Star's national security expert, reported that Speyer's ruling was 62 pages long. On May 6, 2011, the appeals court affirmed the lower court's decision that Khadr should not be extradited. The highest court in Ontario unanimously confirmed in a 3-0 ruling, the original judge's decision to deny the extradition request.

The Federal government tried to initiate an appeal before the Supreme Court of Canada. On November 3, 2011, the Supreme Court announced they would not review the US request to extradite Khadr.

References

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  1. Al Qaeda suspect back in T.O., Toronto Star, December 7, 2005
  2. Eldest Khadr says Canada knew he was tortured in Pakistan jail, Toronto Star, December 8, 2005
  3. Khadr smuggled arms to Afghanistan, U.S. alleges Toronto man, 24, faces extradition for alleged links to al-Qaeda, Ottawa Citizen, December 19, 2005
  4. Terror suspect in Canada allegedly confesses: Police say man admitted buying weapons for al Qaeda, CNN, December 19, 2005

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