Abdelrazik begins journey back to Canada

Montrealer Abousfian Abdelrazik, who has been stranded in Sudan for six years after being labelled an al-Qaeda suspect, has boarded a plane bound for Canada, his Ottawa lawyer said Friday.

Abdelrazik, 47, was arrested and detained while visiting his mother in Sudan in 2003, and for the last year had been living at the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum.

His lawyer, Audrey Brousseau, told CBC News that Abdelrazik boarded a flight from Khartoum to Abu Dhabi early Friday, and was scheduled to land in Toronto on Saturday afternoon at 4:40 p.m. ET.

He plans to speak to the media in Toronto before heading to Montreal, Brousseau said.

Earlier this month, Federal Court Justice Russell Zinn ordered the Canadian government to fly Abdelrazik home early next month and provide those travel plans by Friday.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced last week that the government would not appeal the decision, opening the door for Abdelrazik's return.

Both the RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service have cleared Abdelrazik of any terrorist connections. But the Conservative government had refused to issue him travel documents to return home because his name was on a UN Security Council list banning travel for terrorist suspects.

His lawyers successfully argued the government violated his right to mobility under Sec. 6 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.