A Montreal man stranded in Sudan has been given refuge at the Canadian embassy, and his lawyer says he won't leave until Ottawa gives him some answers about his plight.
Abousfian Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen who travelled back to his native Sudan several years ago, has not been allowed to return to Canada. His lawyer, Yavar Hameed, says that's because Ottawa has been blocking his return.
For their part, Canadian officials aren't saying much about the case, citing privacy concerns.
Abdelrazik, 46, went to Sudan in August of 2003 to visit his mother who was sick at the time. While there he was arrested by Sudanese officials on a tip from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, according Hameed.
He was later released by Sudan after investigators found no evidence to support laying criminal charges, but he hasn't been allowed to return to Canada.
His family -- including his little boy -- is pleading with Ottawa to help facilitate the quick return of the Canadian citizen.
"I want him to come to Canada and give him a big hug because I love him so much," said five-year-old Kouteyba.
According to documents, Ottawa concedes he has the right as a Canadian citizen to come home. But instead, he's trapped in Khartoum because his name is on no-fly lists due accusations of terrorism links, airlines won't take him, and Canada won't give him a passport.
His family says he's done nothing wrong and should face any accusations leveled against him in Canada -- not abroad.
"He is not a terrorist. He is a Muslim. He is a practising Muslim but a peaceful Muslim,'' his wife Myriam St-Hilaire told reporters at an Ottawa news conference Tuesday.
Hameed says Abdelrazik is in a legal limbo.
Documents show similar concerns within foreign affairs. "I find it unethical", wrote one official, "to hold him like this in limbo with no future, no hope."
Officials have also expressed fears about negative publicity. "Should this case break wide open in the media, we may have a lot of explaining to do," one official stated in the documents.
Hameed told CTV's Canada AM that a "veil of secrecy" has surrounded federal dealings with his client, and the government has done little to actually bring him home.
"The case ... at first blush seems like an open and shut one," Hameed said.
"You have a Canadian citizen who is abroad in need of consular assistance, and the job of foreign affairs and consulates in other countries is to help their citizens in need."
Instead, he alleges, the Canadian government has done nothing to help, and even turned down an offer from Sudan to fly Abdelrazik home aboard a Sudanese plane -- then denied the offer had ever been made.
So far, Canadian officials have cited procedural objections as their reason for failing to provide Abdelrazik with the proper documentation to come home.
The U.S. State Department's website lists Abdelrazik as "posing a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals and the national security."
The department's website claims he has provided logistical support to al Qaeda and has been closely associated with some of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants.
Hameed says there are no hurdles that Ottawa can't overcome quickly to bring him home. Canadian officials can issue an emergency passport within 48 hours, if they choose, he said. He also said there are ways to go around the no-fly list.
"It's a bit of a mirage because under the no-fly list, whether it's international commercial airlines or whether it's the UN travel ban, these regulations do not preclude a country from repatriating its own citizen," he said. "And that's an option that was available from day one for Canada to bring him back."
He said Abdelrazik originally travelled to Sudan to visit his ailing mother. But part of his motivation was to get away from near-constant questioning from CSIS officials.
Abdelrazik even met with Montreal police to inquire whether his treatment at CSIS' hands constituted harassment, Hameed said.
With a report by CTV's Roger Smith and The Canadian Press
