Counter-terrorism cooperation: Canada seeks extradition of two students
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 23rd, 2011.
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