Posted on 02/05/2003 4:00:58 PM PST by knighthawk
Abdullah Khadr at large: Brothers were caught in Afghanistan, father is wanted for aiding Osama bin Laden
The federal government released secret intelligence documents yesterday revealing that an al-Qaeda training camp in eastern Afghanistan was under the command of a Scarborough man whose two brothers are captives in the war on terrorism.
Abdullah Khadr, 22, is described in a Privy Council Office intelligence report as a suspected al-Qaeda member who is thought to have "commanded an extremist training camp in Lowgar Province in Afghanistan."
He is the fourth member of the Khadr family to come to the attention of Canadian anti-terrorism officials. His younger brothers -- Abdulrahman, 20, and Omar, 16 -- were the first Canadians to be captured in Afghanistan after Sept. 11.
The documents obtained by the National Post are the first official acknowledgement from Ottawa of the Canadian captives' ties to bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
They provide a host of previously undisclosed details about the Khadr family, whose patriarch Ahmed Khadr, an Egyptian-born Canadian, is wanted for aiding bin Laden.
Among the revelations is that Omar Khadr, the only Canadian captive at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, confessed to U.S. authorities during interrogations that his family was involved with bin Laden.
"A summary of these interrogations has been provided by U.S. authorities and is attached," says a report stamped: Secret -- Canadian Eyes Only. "The summary deals with his family's activities from 1986 to present and details his family's involvement with Osama bin Laden and his family."
The documents say that Ahmed Khadr's second-oldest son, Abdulrahman, "is suspected of having undergone training at al-Qaeda facilities." He was captured by British soldiers in November, 2001, and handed over to the Afghan authorities, they say.
Omar Khadr was caught by U.S. Special Forces on July 27, 2002, after allegedly killing an American medic with a hand grenade. He is being held at Guantanamo Bay with hundreds of other enemy combatants. He "was undergoing small-arms and explosives training at the time of his capture," the documents say.
The eldest son, Abdullah, remains at large, as does his father. No mention is made in the documents of the fourth brother in the Khadr clan. Their sister, Zeynab, lives in Islamabad, Pakistan. All are citizens of Canada.
The Liberal government has consistently denied that Canada has a terrorist problem, insisting it has been unfairly branded a safe haven.
The documents show that despite the family's involvement with al-Qaeda, following the capture of Abdulrahman Khadr, the Department of Foreign Affairs inexplicably tried to have him transferred back to Canada.
"DFAIT attempted to have him moved to Canada," said a memo to the Prime Minister. Another document shows that Foreign Affairs "asked that the U.S. authorities not send Abdulrahman to Guantanamo Bay for detention."
Foreign Affairs officials could provide no explanation last night but said they would comment today.
The documents also show that after the brothers were caught, Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, was briefed in a memo that they were the sons of Ahmed Khadr, a Canadian who was arrested in Pakistan in 1995 for his role in a deadly embassy bombing.
Mr. Khadr was released after Mr. Chrétien, under pressure from Canadian Muslim lobby groups, made an extraordinary intervention in the case during a 1996 state visit to Pakistan. Mr. Khadr is now sought by U.S. investigators for his suspected role in the bin Laden terrorist network.
"You raised his detention with the Pakistani president during your Team Canada visit and he was later released," the Prime Minister was advised in the secret memo. "The U.S. is very interested in finding Mr. Khadr."
Government public relations officers subsequently drafted answers to give to reporters defending Mr. Chrétien's actions, the documents show. The press lines emphasized that the Prime Minister had only tried to ensure Mr. Khadr was treated properly.
The Khadr family is central to intelligence investigations into the Canadian al-Qaeda network. Born in Egypt, Mr. Khadr moved to Canada in the 1970s and began working with the Ottawa-based Muslim aid group Human Concern International in the 1980s.
Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency, Mr. Khadr took his family to the troubled Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, where he claimed to be helping refugees. Police and intelligence officials, however, say he was a guerrilla fighter involved with al-Qaeda.
In evidence unsealed last week by a Chicago court, U.S. authorities alleged Mr. Khadr was tied to the senior ranks of al-Qaeda as long ago as 1988 -- almost a decade before CIDA stopped giving him Canadian aid money.
The family was living in Peshawar, Pakistan, in November, 1995, when two bombs ripped through the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, killing 17. Police raided the Khadr home and arrested the father for allegedly funnelling money through his aid agency to finance the bombing.
The father was still under arrest when Mr. Chrétien visited Pakistan in January, 1996, and, under pressure from Canadian Muslim lobby groups, inquired about the case. Mr. Khadr was released soon after. Investigators now believe Mr. Khadr is a high-ranking al-Qaeda leader close to bin Laden. His assets were frozen by the United Nations two years ago.
sbell@nationalpost.com
Meanwhile, an update :
Mounties arrest Abdullah Khadr
The Toronto Star ^ | Dec. 17, 2005. 10:46 PM | MICHELLE SHEPHARD
Thanks!
You're welcome- take a look at this, too:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1423288/posts
"RCMP allege clips of Bin Laden's voice on confiscated laptop"
Canada Free Press ^ | June 15, 2005 | Judi McLeod
Zaynab Khadr claims she didn’t know that terrorist Osama bin Laden would attend her wedding in Pakistan. Now the 25-year-old says she didn’t know clips of bin Laden’s voice calling for the killing of Americans were on the laptop computer seized by the RCMP at Pearson airport when she returned to Canada last February....
(Excerpt) Read more at canadafreepress.com ...
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