Abdellah Ouzghar is a joint citizen of Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

, who was arrested in Canada shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks

September 11, 2001 attacks

The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

, on suspicion of ties to terrorist organizations. A man in Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 had been found to be using Ouzghar's passport, which had been doctored. France charged Ouzghar with "forgery, uttering a forged document and two related conspiracy charges".

Life

A truck driver

Truck driver

A truck driver , is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck, usually a semi truck, box truck, or dump truck.Truck drivers provide an essential service to...

 by trade, Ouzghar claims that he was initially approached at his Montreal home in 1996, and asked to work as a spy for Canadian Security Intelligence Service

Canadian Security Intelligence Service

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is Canada's national intelligence service. It is responsible for collecting, analyzing, reporting and disseminating intelligence on threats to Canada's national security, and conducting operations, covert and overt, within Canada and abroad.Its...

 (CSIS), but refused on religious grounds - leading to an attempt to "set him up" by the intelligence service. CSIS admits having interviewed him at the time, but denies that they were trying to recruit him. CSIS claims he maintained suspicious connections to Fateh Kamel

Fateh Kamel

An Algerian-Canadian, Fateh Kamel was arrested in 1999 on charges of supporting a terrorist plot against attacks against French targets in Paris, and was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment.He was released early for good behaviour, and returned to Canada....

, and agent Mike Pavlovic questioned him again on September 20, 2001.

Arrest and release

John Norris, Ouzghar's lawyer, argues that even if Ouzghar was involved in forging a passport, that crime would have occurred in Canada, and should be prosecuted in Canada. His extradition hearing was told how Zoheir Choulah's conviction in France showed a number of phone calls between Choulah and Ouzghar while the latter was living in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

.

While facing extradition, Ouzghar became a computer technician. During the raid on his house, a videotape was seized which was later said to "sing the praises of jihad".

Justice Susan Himel

Susan Himel

Susan G. Himel is a judge in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for the Toronto region. Previously, she served as the assistant Deputy Attorney General of Ontario.-References:...

, who took up responsibility for Ouzghar's case when an earlier judge bowed out due to ill-health, made a ruling on January 12, 2007, stating that "...there was insufficient evidence to show Ouzghar was a member of a terrorist group."