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Canadian
Judge Hears Defense For Algerian
MONTREAL,
Feb. 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A federal judge began on Wednesday a
three-day hearing on the case of Mourad Ikhlef, an Algerian considered by
Canadian authorities to be an accomplice of Ahmed Ressam, who was convicted in
April of plotting a millennium attack on the United States, news agencies
reported.
Last
year, the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) issued a security
certificate against Ikhlef, saying he was a national security threat because of
his ties to Ressam and should therefore be deported. Ikhlef, 33, was arrested on
December 12 in Montreal, where he had lived since 1993.
On
Wednesday, Federal Court Judge Pierre Blais heard testimony for Ikhlef's
defense.
"What
the judge will determine is whether the security certificate is reasonable or
not," said Danielle Sarazin, a spokeswoman for Canada's immigration
department.
She
noted that the judge's verdict could not be appealed either way. "If it is
determined to be reasonable, we will take the judge's decision and take that
individual to an inquiry at the Immigration and Refugee Board - and essentially,
as a matter of course, they issue a removal order."
CSIS
believes that Ikhlef belongs to a Montreal cell of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA)
in Algeria and that he helped Ressam devise the bombing plot by showing him how
to use explosives and disguise them, AFP reported.
Ressam
was convicted in April 2001 of conspiring to commit an act of international
terrorism following his December 1999 arrest near the U.S.-Canadian border with
a car full of explosives allegedly destined to blow up the Los Angeles airport.
He is due to be sentenced on March 29.
Claude
Archambault, Ikhlef's lawyer, asserts that there is a death threat on his head
should he be deported to Algeria, continuing on to say that he is also in danger
of being tortured to death by Algerian police.
"He
could be interrogated by Algerian secret police. And I'm told that in many
cases, people who have been interrogated don't leave in the best of
health," news agencies reported.
Last
week, another Algerian detained in Canada, Samir Ait Mohamed, appeared in a
British Columbia court after the United States formally requested his
extradition for conspiring to commit terrorist acts with Ressam.
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