Abdelrazik removed from UN blacklist

Abousfian Abdelrazik, a Canadian accused of being an al-Qaeda operative who trained in Afghanistan, has been removed from a UN Security Council terrorist blacklist.

Paul Champ, Abdelrazik's lawyer, says his client was "ecstatic" to hear the news.

The Sudanese-born man, who was arrested but not charged during a 2003 visit to see his mother in Sudan, has already been formally cleared by CSIS and the RCMP of terrorist allegations.

While he was behind bars in Sudan, Abdelrazik's passport expired and he subsequently lived in makeshift quarters at the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum.

In July 2006, the United States branded Abdelrazik a supporter of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, and the United Nations subsequently added him to the UN Al-Qaeda Sanctions List.

Abdelrazik has been trying to clear his name since late June 2009, when he returned to Canada.