If Abdelrazik has been cleared of terror ties by Sudanese and Canadian authorities it is hard to see why he can be denied entry back into Canada as a security risk. Anyway he is a Canadian citizen, surely a Canadian citizen has a right to return to Canada even if he were a security risk. This Conservative government simply seems very inconsistent as to when it shows concern with someone's human rights. Apparently the slightest hint of connection to terror and human rights go out the window.
No help for Canadian stranded in Sudan since 2002
Denied passport as security risk
Canwest News ServiceApril 4, 2009 7:34 AM
T he federal government on Friday refused to supply an emergency passport to a Canadian citizen who has been stranded in Sudan since he travelled there to visit his ailing mother in 2002.
In a letter to Abousfian Abdelrazik's lawyer, a Justice Department official said his request for an emergency passport was rejected.
"Well, I denied Mr.Abdelrazik an emergency passport on the basis of national security, and so therefore as this file unfolds, and it will certainly be unfolding under a judicial cover, I don't want to go any further in terms of comments on this issue," Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence told journalists in Strasbourg, France, where he is attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's annual leaders' summit.
Abdelrazik was trapped in the African country after his name appeared on a United Nations no-fly list.
There have also been allegations, which Abdelrazik has always denied, that he belonged to al-Qaeda and had gone to a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan. He has been cleared of terror ties by Canadian and Sudanese authorities.
In a move designed to force Ottawa to get Abdelrazik out of Sudan, New Democrat MP Paul Dewar submitted a motion Friday to the foreign affairs and international development committee summoning Abdelrazik to appear.
"It's time to end six years of misery for this Canadian citizen and bring him home," said Dewar, who said federal officials, as recently as Dec. 23, recognized Canada's obligation to issue travel documents for the former Montrealer, who has an ex-wife and three children in Canada.
Dewar said Passport Canada said it would issue a passport for Abdelrazik if a ticket was purchased for him.That airline ticket--purchased for Abdelrazik with donations from almost 200 Canadians--expired Friday.
"The only obstacle standing between Mr. Abdelrazik and his flight home to Canada is this Conservative government," Dewar said.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
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