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Posted on 10/14/2003 8:18:14 AM PDT by Grig
Federal officials are investigating reports that two Canadian al-Qaeda members were killed by Pakistani security forces during a shootout near the Afghanistan border.
Reports emerging from the region claim Ahmed Said Khadr and one of his sons were killed during a raid on an al-Qaeda camp in Waziristan, in Pakistan's lawless tribal frontier region.
A press release issued by the Islamic Observation Centre in London and circulated on an Arabic Internet site announced the death of Mr. Khadr, calling him a "founding member" of al-Qaeda.
"God bless him and we hope that his soul will be accepted by God," said the British-based Islamic centre, which has close links to Egyptian terrorist groups including Mr. Khadr's Al Jihad.
Canadian officials were unable to confirm the deaths yesterday but said consular authorities were looking into the matter. Mr. Khadr's family in Scarborough was unaware of the reports.
"Our officials in Islamabad are investigating the reports regarding Ahmed Khadr," Jennie Chen, a spokeswoman at the Department of Foreign Affairs, said yesterday.
Canadian intelligence officials believe Mr. Khadr is a senior al-Qaeda member closely tied to Osama bin Laden. Three of his Canadian sons -- Omar, Abdurahman and Abdullah -- are also suspected members of al-Qaeda.
When Mr. Khadr was arrested in Pakistan for his alleged role in the 1995 bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, intervened in the case. Mr. Khadr was released shortly thereafter.
The press release said Mr. Khadr and his son were among 12 al-Qaeda and Taliban members killed in an exchange of gunfire. It did not name the son but he is believed to be Abdullah, who once ran an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Omar and Abdurahman Khadr are currently being held by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The report from London did not indicate when Mr. Khadr was killed, but on Oct. 2, Pakistani forces launched a major raid in Waziristan, where some believe bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al Zawahiri are hiding. At dawn, soldiers backed by Cobra helicopter gunships surrounded five mud compounds that had been taken over by al-Qaeda and Taliban members. They refused to surrender and fought back with grenades and machine guns.
By the end of the day, 12 al-Qaeda fighters had been killed and another 18 were captured. Pakistani soldiers seized grenades, rockets, guns and anti-tank mines from the compounds.
Major-General Shaukat Sultan, a spokesman for the Pakistani military, said the dead were "foreign elements who were most likely involved in attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan."
The assault occurred the same day Canadians Sergeant Robert Short and Corporal Robbie Beerenfenger were killed in Afghanistan by a land mine authorities suspect was placed by pro-Taliban guerrillas.
The Islamic centre said Mr. Khadr, also known as Abu Abdurahman Al Kanadi, was among those killed in the operation in Waziristan, where hundreds of fighters loyal to al-Qaeda have fled since the fall of the Taliban. "He and others were killed during an exchange of fire between mujahedeen [holy warriors] and Pakistani forces," it said.
"God bless him, Abu Abdurahman was running a charity, Human Concern International, in Afghanistan. This is a charity based in Canada and he's an Egyptian who bears Canadian citizenship and he's about 55 years old."
Mr. Khadr was born in Egypt, but moved to Ottawa in 1975 and studied computers at the University of Ottawa. He married a Palestinian-Canadian and they had six children, four boys and two girls, most of them Canadian-born.
After the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, he joined Human Concern International (HCI), an Ottawa-based Muslim charity financed by the Canadian government, and brought his family to Pakistan, where he was supposed to be running refugee camps.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service, however, says the camps were actually mujahedeen bases, used by Islamic fighters entering and exiting Afghanistan. HCI "was one of many organizations that were helping refugees fleeing to Pakistan from Afghanistan and supporting the mujahedeen freedom fighters who waged war against the Soviet occupying forces throughout the 1980s," a CSIS report says.
Mr. Khadr returned to Canada in 1992 after he was wounded by shrapnel near Kabul. Once he had recovered at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital, he returned to Pakistan with his wife and children.
In November, 1995, members of the Al Jihad terrorist organization blew up the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, killing 17 people. Mr. Khadr was arrested for allegedly financing the operation.
But he was freed after Mr. Chrétien, under pressure from Canadian Muslim groups, took the highly unusual step of intervening in the case during a meeting with Benazir Bhutto, then the prime minister of Pakistan.
Mr. Khadr came back to Canada, left Human Concern and formed his own aid group called Health and Education Project International, which was based at the Salahedin mosque in Scarborough. But he soon moved his family to Jalalabad, where he was reportedly in close contact with bin Laden.
A month after the attacks of Sept. 11, Canada placed Mr. Khadr's name on its list of designated "terrorist entities." His son Abdurahman was captured in November, 2001, by Northern Alliance troops who swept south to oust the Taliban. The following July, Omar Khadr, then just 15, was caught near Khost after a firefight with U.S. forces. He killed a U.S. medic with a hand grenade before he was captured. Khost is just across the border from Waziristan.
The RCMP's National Security Investigations branch launched an investigation into Mr. Khadr and his fundraising activities in Canada in the fall of 2001, but no charges have been announced.
The press release announcing Mr. Khadr's death was posted on the Abu Dhabi-based Internet site alsaha.com, which is closely monitored by the CIA and FBI because it often posts credible information on Islamic terrorist activities. The posting was detected by the SITE Institute counter-terrorism research centre in Washington, D.C.
If you are a Canadian citizen who gets in trouble overseas, the government will only help you if you are a terrorist.
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
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Canadian intelligence officials believe Mr. Khadr is a senior al-Qaeda member closely tied to Osama bin Laden. Three of his Canadian sons -- Omar, Abdurahman and Abdullah -- are also suspected members of al-Qaeda.
When Mr. Khadr was arrested in Pakistan for his alleged role in the 1995 bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, Jean Chrétien, the Prime Minister, intervened in the case. Mr. Khadr was released shortly thereafter.
Chretien, an Islamic group in free England, a free reporter living in a free nation interviewing the evildoers family - sympathize with the terrorists?
Appeasing terrorists, bad longterm plan. Potential quagmires being created in UK and Canada, ping!
If you want on or off my Pro-Coalition ping list, please Freepmail me. Warning: it is a high volume ping list on good days. (Most days are good days).
I wish the intelligence agencies/resources shared your assessment.
They will also fix you up again if hurt during one of your terrorist activities.
Mr. Khadr returned to Canada in 1992 after he was wounded by shrapnel near Kabul. Once he had recovered at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital, he returned to Pakistan with his wife and children.
Sometimes Meg, it is a good idea to keep a capture secret in order to exploit info gained during the capture & interrogation before bad guy associates can react. However China, I do not have the level of cynicism that you apparently have regarding the motives of the Bush administration.
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