Posted on 06/09/2006 12:53:48 PM PDT by Clive
TORONTO (CP) - Ottawa was wrong in denying the son of a suspected al-Qaida financier a Canadian passport two years ago based on national security concerns, the federal court ruled Friday.
New anti-terror provisions didn't legally exist when Abdurahman Khadr was denied a new passport in early 2004.
For that reason, a federal court judge ordered Friday that the Canadian Passport Office reconsider Khadr's application under the former rules.
Still, Justice Michael Phelan's decision made it clear that Khadr's passport, if granted, would not be "immune from the newer provisions of the 2004 Canadian Passport Order."
"To the extent that (Khadr) is a genuine concern to national security, there are appropriate measures available," Phelan wrote in his decision.
The newer provisions - added in the fall of 2004 - allow the minister of foreign affairs to "refuse or revoke a passport in the interest of the national security of Canada or another country."
Phelan found that the minister over-extended his authority in March 2004 in denying Khadr's passport on those same security concerns.
Khadr is the second eldest son of Ahmed Said Khadr, who was killed in a firefight with Pakistani forces in 2003. Ahmed Said Khadr was an associate of Osama bin Laden.
The Khadr family has provoked intense debate in Canada. Each of the five siblings, all of whom are Canadian citizens, has at one time or another been separately accused or investigated for alleged links to terrorism.
Khadr returned to Canada two years after being arrested as a presumed member of al-Qaida in November 2001.
He was later transferred to Guantanamo Bay and deported to Afghanistan.
His brothers Abdullah and Omar have been charged with terrorist activities.
Check to see if he has a DUI?
Seems like the court is being very pedantic.
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