CBC In Depth
INDEPTH: KHADR
The Khadr family
CBC News Online | October 28, 2006

Monday, October 30 may be decision day in a Canadian court looking at the future of Abdullah Khadr. The court must determine whether Khadr, whose younger brother remains in custody in Guantanamo Bay, can be deported to the United States to also face charges.

Khadr's return to Toronto in early December 2005 put the spotlight back on a family that has been linked to senior levels of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Several members of the family have lived in southern Ontario since emigrating from Egypt in 1977. But the movements of some family members in the 1990s – and after the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001 – have attracted the attention of intelligence officials.

After Abdullah Khadr – the family's eldest son – appeared in a Toronto court on December 19, 2005, younger brother Abdurahman accused authorities of targeting his family only because they had been in Afghanistan.

"We've been in a war zone, what do you expect?" Abdurahman Khadr told reporters outside a Toronto court.

"And we're back now but it seems as though we're still in a war zone because we're not being able to live peacefully – someone is always in, out, jailed, this, that."

On Dec. 23, 2005, a Superior Court judge ordered Abdullah held without bail pending an extradition hearing, saying the al-Qaeda network "could well assist him in escaping this jurisdiction."

Abdullah Khadr was put on a plane to Toronto after he had been released from more than a year behind bars in Pakistan. It's unclear who had held him and why he was released. Just over a week after his return, the RCMP arrested him at the request of American authorities.

Abdullah's younger brother – Omar – is the only Canadian to be held at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He's accused of killing an American soldier. The FBI says his father – Ahmed Said Khadr – was an al-Qaeda financier before he was killed in a gun battle in Pakistan in 2003.

In April 2006, Omar Khadr's U.S. military attorney tried to have two Canadian lawyers officially added to the legal team defending Omar against murder charges. Lt.-Col. Colby Vokey said his client needs extra lawyers on his side, given what he calls the arbitrary nature of the military proceedings at Guantanamo. US officials refused to confirm whether Omar's case will be conducted using legal guidelines laid out in U.S. federal statutes, military law or international law.


Ahmed Said Khadr
  • Born in Egypt, moved to Canada in 1977.
  • Accused of being a "founding member" of al-Qaeda and financier for the organization.
  • Put on a list of suspected terrorists after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
  • Killed in a shootout with Pakistani forces near the Afghanistan border.



Maha Khadr
  • Ahmed Said Khadr's wife
  • Born in Palestine, moved to Canada
  • Married Ahmed Said Khadr in Canada
  • Moved with husband six children to Afghanistan in the 1980s.



Zaynab Khadr
  • Daughter in Pakistan.
  • Allegations that she was involved with her her brother, Abdullah, in running an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in the 1990s.



Abdullah Khadr
  • Eldest son.
  • Information from the Taliban released on Feb. 4, 2004, suggested he may have been the suicide bomber who killed a Canadian soldier in Kabul in January 2004.
  • In an interview with CBC News on Feb. 25, 2004, Abdullah Khadr said, "If I was the suicide bomber, I wouldn't be doing this interview with you right now."
  • Had been accused of running an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in the 1990s. He denied it.
  • Returned to Canada on Dec. 7, 2005 after he was released from custody in Pakistan. He had been held there for a year. It was unclear who held him and why he was released.
  • Arrested in Toronto on Dec. 17, 2005 at the request of U.S. authorities. Bail is denied.
  • Indicted in Massachusetts on Feb. 8, 2006 on four charges, including conspiring to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, and conspiracy to possess a destructive device to commit violent crimes. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison and a million dollar fine.



Abdurahman Khadr
  • Calls himself the "black sheep" of the Khadr family.
  • Arrested as a suspected member of al-Qaeda in November 2001.
  • Transferred to Guantanamo Bay in early 2003
  • Released and sent to Afghanistan in July 2003.
  • Returned to Canada in October 2003.



Omar Khadr
  • Detained in July 2002 near Khost, Afghanistan at age 15 accused of killing a U.S. serviceman
  • Being held in Guantanamo Bay.



Abdul Karim Khadr
  • Paralysed from the waist down in the same shootout that killed his father.
  • Abdul Karim and mother return to Canada in April 2004 and are living in Toronto.







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MAIN PAGE TIMELINE
AL-QAEDA FAMILY: The firefight at Waziristan A family divided At home with Osama bin Laden The black sheep Al-Qaeda attacks The Abdurahman tour of Afghanistan Going to Guantanamo Working for the CIA Coming home

RELATED: OSAMA BIN LADEN PASSPORT TO TERROR

WHO'S WHO:
  • Ahmed Said Khadr
  • Maha Khadr
  • Zaynab Khadr
  • Abdullah Khadr
  • Abdurahman Khadr
  • Omar Khadr
  • Abdul Karim Khadr
  • RELATED:
    The Recruiters

    Indepth: Afghanistan

    Guantanamo Bay

    MEDIA:
    On The Current Anna Maria Tremonti talks to CBC TV reporter Darrow MacIntyre about Ahmed Khadr.
    (Real Audio | Runs 12:00)

    VIEWPOINT:
    Rex Murphy:
    The rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship

    Nazim Baksh:
    Abdurahman Khadr: mischief or terror?

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