Extradition from Canada to the United States—Abdullah Ahmed Khadr

Abdullah Ahmed Khadr has been officially indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston.^[1] When we last mentioned Mr. Khadr in mid-December, we noted that he had been arrested by Canadian officials on a provisional arrest warrant based on a criminal complaint that had been filed in Boston.^[2] The indictment alleges that Mr. Khadr “conspired to kill Americans overseas, conspired to use weapons of mass destruction, conspired to possess a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence, and did possess a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence.”^[3] The phrase “weapons of mass destruction” does not apply exclusively to the “big three” weapons of mass destruction, Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical weapons. In this instance, the weapons of mass destruction refer to rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds, and explosives.^[4] He is currently going through the extradition process, which we covered the last time we discussed him.

Mr. Khadr comes “from a family that moved from Canada to Pakistan when he was about 8, and which has recently become notorious for its alleged relationships with bin Laden and al Qaeda.”^[5] His younger brother, Omar Ahmed Khadr, was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 and, at the age of 19, is facing murder and other charges before a military commission in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.^[6] These relationships are also outlined in the indictment.^[7]

In January 2004, Mr. Khadr’s other brother, Abdurahman Khadr, gave an interview to PBS’s Frontline in which he detailed working for the CIA as an undercover informant in Guantanamo Bay and in Bosnia. In that interview, he said that the events of 9/11 made him “totally against Al Qaeda” and he decided to be as cooperative as he could.^[8] He also told investigators that his brother, Abdullah, was the leader of a training camp, which he later recanted; Abdullah also gave an interview to Frontline, in which he denied being involved with al Qaeda.^[9] Eventually, Abdurahman became employed by the CIA to be an informant, earning US$3,000 a month.^[10] He was sent to Guantanamo and treated the same as any other detainee, which meant that there were times that he “wished to God that one of these MPs would go crazy and then shoot [him].”^[11] Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore and stopped working with the CIA, but the details of his cooperation have led to him being shunned somewhat.^[12]

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[1] David A. Fahrenthold, Canadian is Indicted in U.S. on Terrorism-Aid Charges, Wash. Post, Feb. 9, 2006.
[2] See US Attorneys Office, Canadian National Arrested By Canadian Authorities For Extradition To The United States To Face Charges Related To The Procurement Of Munitions For Al Qaeda, Dec. 18, 2005.
[3] US Attorneys Office, Canadian National Indicted For Conspiracy To Procure Weapons For Al Qaeda, Kill Americans Overseas Feb. 8, 2006.
[4] See 18 U.S.C. 2332a(c)(2)(A) (defining weapon of mass destruction as any destructive device defined by 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(4) (any explosive device including bombs, grenades, rockets, missiles, mines, or rifle with a bore greater than ½ inch in diameter)).
[5] Fahrenthold, supra note 1.
[6] Id.
[7] See US Attorneys Office, supra note 3.
[8] Frontline, Son of Al Qaeda: Abdurahman Khadr, PBS.org, Apr. 22, 2004.
[9] See Frontline, Son of Al Qaeda: Abdullah Khadr, PBS. Org, Apr. 22, 2004.
[10] Frontline, supra note 8.
[11] Id.
[12] Id.