updatedUN visit aims to get Abdelrazik off terror watchlist
Canadian has been on list since 2006
CBC News
Posted: Jun 15, 2011 9:47 AM ET
Last Updated: Jun 15, 2011 7:35 PM ET
Abousfian Abdelrazik has been on the UN's terror watchlist since 2006. (Sean Kilpatick/Canadian Press)
Related
Related Links
External Links
(Note:CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)
A delegation representing a Canadian who is trying have his name removed from a United Nations terror watchlist will meet with the group's representatives in New York Thursday.
Abousfian Abdelrazik is the only Canadian on the UN's 1267 al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee blacklist. He spent six years in forced exile in Sudan, some of which was spent in prison where he said he was tortured.
His name was placed on the UN blacklist in 2006 because of allegations he was a possible al-Qaeda operative. He was allowed to return to Canada in 2009.
The Sudanese government, the RCMP and CSIS have exonerated him of all accusations of terrorism, but he remains on the list.
Abdelrazik said his life has been "frozen completely" because of this, as he is not allowed to travel outside of Canada, nor can he have a job or a bank account.
He said he is hopeful, however, that his name will eventually be removed from the list.
"I see myself [as an] innocent person," he said, adding that he wants to "live my life normally with my kids, like everybody else."
Dolores Chew, who is with the South Asian Women's Centre and is a member of the delegation travelling to the UN, said the goal is clear.
"We want to ask the 1267 regime to take Abousfian Abdelrazik off the list," she said. "That's a very basic demand, it's very clear to us it can be done and we want it to be done."
Chew said she is optimistic that they will succeed.
"With all the community support, the mainstream support from Canada's own intelligence agencies, we feel he needs to be taken off the list. There is absolutely no reason for him to be there," she said.
The delegation is made up of a wide range of support groups, including labour organizations, community groups and faith-based groups.
Share Tools
Latest Montreal News Headlines
- Quebec Charter of Values could breed intolerance, warn Liberals
- Quebec's citizenship minister today said the province is long overdue in dealing with the issue of accommodations to religious communities. more »
- Quebec private daycare owners hold 1-day walkout

- Thousands of owners of private subsidized daycares marched in Montreal to denounce Quebec's plans to cut $15M from their budgets. more »
- Woman injured after falling on Montreal metro tracks
- Witnesses said she fell onto the tracks after stepping between two metro cars of a train that was stopped in the station. more »
- Schools, hospitals react swiftly to boil water advisory
- Today's widespread boil water advisory has had many Montrealers scrambling, including employees and administrators at schools and hospitals around the city. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Harper 'not consulted' about Duffy Senate expense repayment

- Prime Minister Stephen Harper says that not only did he not know about his chief of staff's "gift" to repay Senator Mike Duffy's expenses before the story broke in the media, he was not consulted and did not sign off on Nigel Wright's decision to write a personal cheque. more »
- 2 infants confirmed among dead of Oklahoma tornado
- Rescue workers raced to complete the search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb where a mammoth tornado destroyed countless homes, cleared lots down to bare red earth and claimed 24 lives, including those of 10 children. more »
- 'You will see him again in heaven,' Sharlene Bosma tells daughter
- Sharlene Bosma told more than 1,000 people at the public memorial service for her slain husband, Tim Bosma, about the love they shared. more »
- Senators' Alfredsson on defeating Penguins: 'Probably not'
- The Pittsburgh Penguins scored four times in the third period and six unanswered goals in all to blow out the Ottawa Senators 7-3 and take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semi-final series. more »
Most Viewed/Commented
- 1.3 million Montrealers face boil water advisory
- Woman injured after falling on Montreal metro tracks
- 23-year-old woman dies while surfing near LaSalle
- How Quebec Cree avoided the fate of Attawapiskat
- 'Lightly felt' earthquake west of Montreal
- Quebec private daycare owners hold 1-day walkout
- Taking a look at graffiti tagging hotspots in Montreal
- CBC board member linked to allegations before corruption inquiry
- Service restored on Montreal metro lines

