OTTAWA, Dec 24: The son of a former friend of Osama bin Laden, accused of buying weapons for Al Qaeda and plotting to kill Pakistan’s prime minister, was denied bail Friday while awaiting an extradition hearing.
Abdullah Khadr, the oldest surviving male member of a Canadian family accused of terrorist links, was arrested in Toronto on December 17 after returning here from Pakistan, where he had been under arrest for one year.
The United States alleged in court documents that he had confessed to their agents while in Pakistan to buying some 20,000 US dollars’ worth of munitions for rifles, machine guns, mortar rounds and rocket-propelled grenades in 2003 for use against US forces in Afghanistan and planned to kill Pakistan’s prime minister.
The United States wants him extradited to face charges of conspiring to kill US soldiers abroad.
Khadr has denied links to terrorism, but admitted that he and his brothers attended Al Qaeda military training camps in Afghanistan when he was 13 years old. His attorney Dennis Edney told AFP: “The crown totally relied on uncorroborated evidence obtained through torture.”
“We will fight the US extradition request,” he added.
Khadr’s grandmother Fatima Elsamnah, 66, broke down in tears in the courtroom when told of the allegations, according to reports. She testified at the bail hearing, offering to put up her home worth 300,000 Canadian dollars for his bail and herself as surety.
But, Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy determined Khadr is a flight risk and that Al Qaeda could assist him in escaping the jurisdiction.
His 19-year-old brother, Omar, is being held prisoner at Guantanamo Bay.—AFP
