MONTREAL - Back home after six years of exile in Sudan, a Canadian man is now shifting his focus to those he believes stranded him there.
Abousfian Abdelrazik returned to Montreal last month, ending a saga that saw him locked up in a Sudanese jail, interrogated by CSIS and FBI officers and marooned in the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum for more than a year.
Throughout, Abdelrazik was never charged with a crime.
"I want those people who played a role in this matter to face justice, not because I seek revenge, because I don't want this to happen to any Canadian citizen anymore," Abdelrazik said Tuesday after a brief appearance before a Federal Court justice to prove he made it back to Canada.
"It stops here."
Abdelrazik's name remains on a UN terror watch list, even though neither the RCMP nor CSIS has information linking him to criminal activities.
The UN Security Council alleges Abdelrazik trained with members of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and has close ties to the group's leadership, including a former lieutenant of Osama bin Laden.
Citing his spot on the UN blacklist, the federal government denied Abdelrazik's requests for an emergency passport that would have allowed him to return to Canada.
But Federal Court Justice Russel Zinn ruled last month that Ottawa breached the 47-year-old father's constitutional rights. He ordered him returned within 30 days.
A lawyer for Abdelrazik said his client will request a meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan to discuss the government's conduct in his case.
"The government of Canada should acknowledge responsibility for what has happened," Yavar Hameed said Tuesday.
Asked if Abdelrazik plans to sue Ottawa, Hameed would only say his client intends to find out how much blame falls on the government for his ordeal.
But first, Hameed will try to have Abdelrazik's name removed from the UN blacklist, a process he says will need the government's help.
"He needs to clear his name," said Hameed, adding it is a federal offence for someone to give Abdelrazik money, which means he can't get a job.
"That is the priority."
The Foreign Affairs Department has not received any formal requests to meet with Abdelrazik, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.
In 2003, Abdelrazik was visiting his ailing mother in Sudan when he was arrested by local authorities for allegedly having ties to terrorism.
Sudanese officials released him for lack of evidence. He claims he was tortured during his imprisonment.
Fearing he might be arrested again, he took refuge in the Canadian Embassy in April 2008. His passport expired during his time in Sudan.
Last spring, nearly 200 people from across Canada pitched in to buy Abdelrazik a plane ticket home, but Ottawa refused to provide the necessary travel documents.
Both CSIS and the RCMP have cleared him of any connections to criminal activities.
The Sudan-born Abdelrazik, who has a son, daughter and stepdaughter in Montreal, arrived in Canada in 1990 and became a Canadian citizen five years later.
During his court appearance Tuesday, Zinn welcomed him back to Canada.
"I'm pleased to see you here, Mr. Abdelrazik," said Zinn, who had ordered he appear before him upon his return.
He urged Abdelrazik to let his future be shaped by the present, not the past.
Zinn denied Hameed's request to allow Abdelrazik to address the Court, saying it was unnecessary because his repatriation means he has been treated like any other Canadian citizen.
Smiling from ear to ear, Abdelrazik exchanged handshakes and hugs with his team of lawyers before leaving the courtroom.
He and Hameed wrapped their arms around each other's shoulders as they walked from the courthouse in the spitting rain.
"I feel very happy because these six years of suffering have ended for me and my family," Abdelrazik said before leaving the building.
