Abdelrazik questioned by Canadian agents before Ottawa knew his location: report

Canadian agents interrogated Abousfian Abdelrazik in a Sudanese jail in October 2003, a month before the government learned of his whereabouts, a published report said Monday.

According to government documents obtained by the Globe and Mail, officials at Foreign Affairs learned of Abdelrazik's arrest in November 2003.

A briefing note to then Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier, dated February 2008, read:  "We were not informed of his arrest until November 2003, when Sudanese authorities advised us he was detained at the request of the government of Canada (please see attached memo for more detail)," said the report from the Globe.

Every word on that attached eight-page memo has been blacked out, including page numbers, said the newspaper report.

NDP MP Paul Dewar, who has championed Abdelrazik's cause, provided the February 2008 briefing note to the Globe.

In a letter dated April 14, Canada's spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, wrote its agents interrogated Abdelrazik "in October 2003 … while he was in detention in Sudan."

It's not clear how CSIS agents could have interrogated Abdelrazik a month before the Canadian government knew where he was.

Previously released documents suggested CSIS requested Abdelrazik's imprisonment, a claim the agency has denied.

Living in Canadian Embassy

Abdelrazik, 47, was arrested while visiting his mother in Sudan. He was imprisoned and tortured based on allegations he has links to al-Qaeda.

He was later released after Sudanese investigators failed to find any evidence to support criminal charges. The RCMP and CSIS also cleared him of any wrongdoing in 2007.

He's been living at the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum for the past year, saying he cannot afford to buy a plane ticket to Canada.

Family and supporters of Abdelrazik purchased a ticket and had expected him to return to Canada earlier this month after Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said the government would issue the necessary travel documents.

Cannon then abruptly shifted position, saying it was up to Abdelrazik to get his name removed from the United Nations no-fly list. He denied Abdelrazik an emergency passport hours before his flight was to leave Khartoum, citing reasons of "national security."

UN countries are required to freeze the assets and impose travel bans on the suspects on the list.

However, Abdelrazik's lawyers say the UN allows countries to repatriate their citizens even if they are on the no-fly list.

Abdelrazik's lawyers will return to Federal Court in May to argue that Sec. 6 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — the right of a citizen to enter Canada — has been breached and that he should be flown home by whatever means necessary.

On Monday, Dewar tabled a motion at the House of Commons foreign affairs and international development committee to force Abdelrazik to appear for testimony.

The motion passed with support from all opposition parties while Conservative members abstained. Dewar said that should be enough to force the government to hand Abdelrazik his travel papers.