Accused terrorist Harkat has tracking bracelet removed

The wife of an Ottawa man accused of terrorist ties says border agents have removed an electronic tracking bracelet from his ankle.

Sophie Harkat said the Canada Border Services Agency took the tracking device off late Wednesday as part of a court-ordered relaxation of Mohamed Harkat's release conditions.

The Federal Court ruling, which follows a hearing last month, has not yet been publicly released.

But Sophie Harkat told The Canadian Press she and her husband arrived home Wednesday to a phone message telling them to come to a border services office to have the bracelet removed.

It has been more than a decade since Harkat, a refugee from Algeria, was arrested under a national security certificate on suspicion of being an al-Qaida sleeper agent — an accusation he denies.

He has essentially been living under house arrest with stringent conditions — including the tracking bracelet — for seven years.