World

Counter-terrorism cooperation: Canada seeks extradition of two students

The pair is suspected of planning to join the Taliban against Nato troops.

Asad Kharal May 23, 2011

LAHORE:

The Canadian government has sought help from the Pakistani government in locating and arresting two Canadian students of Afghan descent who are suspected of having joined the Taliban and al Qaeda.

Pakistan received the Canadian requests through Interpol for help in the arrest of Maiwand Yar, 27, and Farid Imam, 30.

At least one of the young men was reported to be a mechanical engineering student at the University of Manitoba. The Canadian government suspects that they plan to join the Taliban insurgents fighting Nato troops in Afghanistan.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the arrest warrants for Yar and Imam are the result of a four-year national security criminal investigation known as Project Darken.

“These warrants are the result of a lengthy and thorough national security criminal investigation involving key partners throughout Canada and the US,” stated Assistant Commissioner Bill Robinson of the RCMP. “We are deeply committed to our efforts aimed at countering terrorism. This investigation targets criminal activity and not specific communities or groups.”

Both men are being charged with conspiracy to participate in terrorist activities.

Canadian police suspect that the two men have also been involved in a 2009 plot to blow up New York City subway trains. Law enforcement officials in the US were able to disrupt that plot and arrested Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan national and US permanent resident. Another suspect in the case, Adnan el Shukrijumah, is believed to have travelled to Pakistan in 2008 and is still at large.

The two young men are reported to have visited Pakistan in 2007. Law enforcement officials in Pakistan have no record of the two men leaving the country, however, despite the expiration of their visa. The interior ministry has directed all law enforcement agencies to begin searching for the two suspected militants.

Canada does not have an extradition treaty with Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2011.

COMMENTS (2)

Irfan Ahmad | 12 years ago | Reply Canada seeks former students on terror charges By QMI Agency Feris Ahmed Imam, 30, left, and Maiwand Yar, 24, both Canadian citizens, were charged in absentia by RCMP on a host of terrorism-related charges. (RCMP Handout) Canada asks Pakistan for help to arrest men on terrorism charges A report out of Pakistan Monday claims Canada is seeking help from the Pakistani government to find and arrest two former Winnipeggers and ex-University of Manitoba students wanted on terrorism charges. Ferid Ahmed Imam, 30, and Maiwand Yar, 27, both Canadian citizens, were charged in absentia by RCMP on a host of terrorism-related charges. On Monday, the Express Tribune posted a report out of Lahore, Pakistan, stating that country received a request from Canada through Interpol to locate and arrest Yar and Imam, who is also considered a fugitive by U.S. law enforcement and faces charges for allegedly training others to blow up subway cars in New York City. The federal government would not confirm nor deny the report on Victoria Day Monday. In March, Manitoba RCMP announced the charges against Yar and Imam that were part of a lengthy investigation, dubbed Project Darken. Police allege the two men travelled to Pakistan in 2007 with plans to join the insurgency against NATO forces in Afghanistan. In March 2007, Imam and Yar were photographed arriving at the Karachi airport on tourist visas. There is no record of the pair leaving Pakistan when the visas expired, RCMP said at a March 15 news conference in Winnipeg.

Irfan Ahmad | 12 years ago | Reply Home > News > Pakistan hunting for former Manitoba students Pakistan hunting for former Manitoba students By Josh Dehaas | May 24th, 2011 | 2:03 pm Filed Under: News Tags: terrorism Both men wanted on terrorism charges Pakistan has ordered its police to start searching for two former University of Manitoba students, Ferid Ahmed Imam, 30, and Maiwand Yar, 27, according to a report by The Express Tribune, a Pakistani Newspaper. The RCMP charged the men with conspiracy to commit terrorism on March 15. They alleged that the men traveled to Afghanistan to participate in the insurgency against NATO forces in 2007 and that Imam trained terrorists who planned blow up subway cars in New York City in Sept. 2009. Yar was in his final year of a mechanical engineering degree and Imam was in his final year of biochemistry when they left for Afghanistan.

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