Overseas Terrorism in Canada, Canadian Terrorists

The following list includes a variety of terrorists and key supporters who have lived in Canada while on the run for terrorist actions in a homeland conflict, or who have acted on behalf of an overseas terrorist organization after establishing a Canadian residence. Naturally, the list is far from being definitive.

Almrei, Hassan. Born in Syria, this Ontario resident is suspected by CSIS of being an al Qaeda member.

Amhaz, Ali Adham. A Hizbollah operative who immigrated to Canada, he helped to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars through Canadian banks for the terrorist group and used some of the proceeds to purchase demolitions material, night vision goggles, new computers, and camera equipment for the group. He lived in Burnaby BC.

Ayub, Fauzi Mohammed. Detained in Israel as a leading Hizbollah operative, he appears to have been recruited by the group in Canada in the early 1990s. After training in Lebanon, he entered Israel in 2000 to set up stores sites for weapons and explosives. He arrived in Canada in 1988 and has a family here.

Atmani, Karim Said. A Moroccan who fought in Afghanistan and became a Bosnian citizen, he has also been convicted in France for charges related to passing fraudulent passports to al Qaeda members in Europe.

Bagri, Ajaib Singh. A BKI member from British Columbia, he is on trial for the1985 Air India Bombing. The ISYF is fervently backing his defence.

Bhullar, Davinder Pal Sing. A one-time leader in the Khalistan Commando Force, he is fighting extradition from Surrey BC to India, where a death sentence awaits him for a bomb attack that killed nine people.

Boumezbeur, Adel. A Montreal Salafist and Algerian, he has also lived in Vancouver and has been convicted of terrorist-related offenses in France.

Boussora, Faker. A wanted al Qaeda member believed to be hiding in Montreal in 2002. Born in Tunisia, he was trained in Afghanistan and was unknown to Canadian authorities until a videotape in which he pledged commitment to martyrdom turned up.

Daher, Kassen. A suspected al Qaeda member, he lived in Canada before being arrested in Lebanon.

Dahoumane, Abdelmajid. Originally from Algeria, and a member of the Salafist cell in Montreal. He also lived for a while in Alberta.

Dbouk, Mohammed Hassan. A Hizbollah member in British Colombia, he was the brother in law and partner to Ali Amhaz. He has fled to Lebanon and taken up another role within the terrorist group.

Farahat, Hassan (aka Abdul Jaber). Accused of being a senior member of Ansar Al Islam, and has been arrested by Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq, he was the Imam of the Salaheddin Mosque in Toronto from 1997 to 2002.

Haouari, Mokhtar. An Algerian who arrived in Canada via France, he supported Ahmed Ressam’s attempts to get false documentation and was a member of the same Salafist Cell in Montreal in the 1990s. He also lived in Surrey, BC.

Hardeep, Singh. A leading member of the Khalistan Commando Force, he was deported from Canada in 1995 — the same year the KCF was mounting a major recruiting campaign here and in the UK.

Harkat, Mohamed. Arriving in Canada from Pakistan (via Malaysia) with a fake Saudi passport, he lived quietly in Ottawa at a variety of menial jobs, after winning his refugee claim in 1997 and marring a Canadian citizen. A CSIS investigation has accused him of being involved in the GIA, and having worked for al Qaeda before leaving Pakistan.

Al Husseini, Mohammed Hussein. An alleged hijacker and Hizbollah member, he provided valuable insights on the group to CSIS before being deported in 1994 after living on welfare in Montreal. Part of his role was to coordinate reconnaissance for the group on potential targets inside Canada.

Ikhhlef, Mourad. A refugee who had been involved in the Algerian GIA, he was involved in the Salafist cell in Montreal.

Jabarah, Abdul Rahman. Arrived with his brother Mohamed and parents as immigrants from Kuwait in 1994, and settled in St. Catherine’s Ontario. Recruited by al Qaeda in 1990, he was killed in Saudi Arabia in July 2003 as police moved in on his terrorist cell after a series of truck bombings.

Jabarah, Mohamed Mansour. Raised in St. Catherine’s Ontario, he led an al Qaeda cell in Singapore that was planning a mass bomb attack (with 21 tonnes of improvised explosives) before he was arrested while passing through Oman in 2002.

Jabbalah, Mahmoud. Accused of being tied to Islamic Jihad, and had worked for Osama bin Laden’s construction and development projects in the Sudan in the early 1990s, this Toronto resident has been jailed since August 2001, after being deemed a national security risk. He arrived in Canada as a refugee claimant.

Al-Jiddi, Al Rauf bin Al Habib bin Youssef (aka Abderraouf Jdey). A wanted al Qaeda member believed to be hiding in Montreal in 2002. His involvement in al Qaeda was unknown until videotape of his pledge to martyrdom turned up in a cache of intelligence materials in Afghanistan.

Kadr, Abdul Rahman. A son of Ahmad Said Kadr, he was captured by Northern Alliance troops in Kabul in November 2001 while fighting as a member of the Taliban.

Kadr, Ahmad Said (also spelled as ‘Khadr’). A one-time Toronto resident who arrived in Canada from Egypt in the 1970s, and served as an aid worker in Afghanistan and Pakistan before becoming involved in al Qaeda. His current whereabouts are unknown and it is possible he may have recently been killed (along with a third son) along the Afghan-Pakistani frontier. Two of his other sons have fought for al Qaeda or the Taliban.

Kadr, Omar. The teenaged son of Ahmad Said Kadr, this under-educated boy killed a US Army medic in Afghanistan in 2002 with a grenade while fighting as a member of al Qaeda.

Kamel, Fateh. Born in Algeria, and a one-time member of the GIA, he was the leader of the Montreal Salafist Cell in the 1990s. He has been convicted in France for passing black-market passports to Islamic militants.

Labsi, Mustapha. An Algerian, he came to Montreal as a part of the Salafist cell there.

Mahjoub, Mohamed Zeki. A Toronto area convenience store clerk, he is also suspected of being a senior ‘fixer’ for Islamic Jihad. He came to Canada with a doctored passport, and is fighting deportation .

Malik, Ripudaman Singh. A BC resident and senior fundraiser for the BKI in the province. He is being tried for his involvement in the Air India Bombing.

Al-Marabh, Nabil. A Toronto area resident (a sometime welfare recipient who also worked in his uncle’s photocopy shop) from Kuwait, he is suspected of being involved in a support role for the 9-11 attacks. Arrived in Canada as a refugee claimant, he was convicted by the US of conspiracy to enter the US illegally. When arrested in the US in September 2001, he was carrying $20,000 in cash and $25,000 in jewelry.

Marzouk, Hessam Mohamed Hafez. An Egyptian al Qaeda member, he once lived in Surrey BC, and was arrested in Azerbaijan before facing charges in Egypt.

Mohamed, Samir Ait. Lived in Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto, and is currently awaiting extradition to the US. In 1996, he facilitated Ahmed Ressam’s acquisition of a silenced pistol, and helped to provide him with fake ID and a counterfeit credit card in late 1999.

Muhammad, Saeed Sobrhatolla. Accused of being a member of Ansar Al Islam, and has been arrested by Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq — he arrived in Canada in 1995 and maintains a family here.

Nadarajah, Muralitharan. A senior fundraiser for the LTTE, and possibly involved in an assassination cell, he arrived in Canada as a refugee claimant from Switzerland in 1998, and was ordered deported in 2002 — but is still fighting that decision.

Nawar, Nizar Ben Muhammed Nasr. One of some 1,300 Tunisian students who entered Montreal in 1999 (and one of 100 who dropped out of sight after the WTC attacks), he appears to have recruited there and delivered a suicide attack on a historic synagogue in Tunisia in early 2002 that killed 19 people.

Ouzghar, Abdellah. Born in Algeria, he was an associate of the al Qaeda Salafist cell in Montreal in the 1990s, but also lived in Hamilton. He was convicted of passport fraud in absentia by a French court.

Ressam, Ahmed. A member of the GIA in Algeria, he arrived in Canada in 1994 and was a member of a Salafist cell in Montreal. After acquiring a Canadian passport under a fake identity, he was trained in Afghanistan and was arrested in December 1999 when attempting to enter the US with a car trunk full of explosives and sophisticated timers.

Reyat, Inderjit Singh. A BKI member and one of the defendants in the Air India Bombing trial. Normally a resident of BC, he has already been convicted in the UK for charges related to the incident.

Sabanayagam, Loganathan. One of the six founders of the LTTE, he had been involved in their 1975 assassination of the mayor of Jaffna, and is a first cousin of the organization’s founder. He was convicted in 1994 of a number of fraud related charges pertaining to passport forging. He entered Canada from the US as a refugee claimant in 1988.

al-Sayegh, Hani. A Saudi who is suspected of being involved in the murder of 19 US personnel in a 1996 truck bombing in Saudi Arabia (an al Qaeda operation,) he was arrested in 1997 as he tried to settle in Canada.

El Sayed, Omar. A Hizbollah member caught living in Edmonton with a false ID (after entering Canada in 1998 with a fake Dutch passport,) he was arrested after the RCMP determined that Germany wanted him to face charges related to heroin and cocaine trafficking, selling firearms and threatening a police officer. An Alberta judge ordered him released on bail in 2002, and he has since disappeared.

Saygili, Aynur. A PKK member, she entered Canada under a false name and helped to take over a Kurdish cultural organization. She was arrested here in 1996 as a threat to national security.

Shanmugam, Tharmalingam. The chief weapons buyer for the LTTE. He travels around the world on a fake Canadian passport, but has probably never lived in Canada.

Singh, Iqbal. Arrived in Canada in 1991 as an undocumented refugee (after hopping through several countries with false documentation,) he was a member of the Babbar Khalsa International and the Sikh Students Federation. He was deported to Belize from Toronto in 2001 as a threat to Canadian security after a lengthy legal battle.

Slahi, Mohamedou Ould. An al Qaeda member who was recruited as a student in Europe, he also lived in Montreal for two years after fleeing Germany (where he was wanted for welfare fraud). In 1999, he carried a message from Bin Laden to Ahmed Ressam, ordering him to prepare an attack on Los Angeles International Airport.

Suresh, Manickavasagam. A senior LTTE leader who arrived in Canada in 1990 to take command of their front organizations here, he has been fighting deportation since 1995. The case has set a number of important legal decisions, including a ruling that refugees can be deported to countries where they face torture if there is a serious risk to Canadian security, and a dismissal of arguments that fundraising and propagandizing for terrorist groups in Canada is a form of free expression and free association.

Tobbichi, Adel (aka Mezbar, Amine). An Algerian, he was extradited from Montreal to the Netherlands in 2002 to stand trial with six al Qaeda members who were planning a series of attacks in France and Belgium.

Vignarajah, Kumaravelu. A one-time LTTE combatant, he also worked for the RCMP as a wiretapping translator, before the Mounties discovered he had concealed his part in the murder of Indian troops in Sri Lanka and suspected he was stealing intelligence documents. He entered Canada as a refugee in 1989.

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John Thompson is President of the Mackenzie Institute which studies political instability and terrorism. He can be reached at: mackenzieinstitute@bellnet.ca

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