Detained: Islamic Fundamentalist Extremism and the War on Terror in Canada

359 Pages·2018·10.48 MB·English

by  Daniel Livermore

detained
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DETAINED
Islamic Fundamentalist Extremism and the
War on Terror in Canada
daniel livermore
McGill- Queen’s University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Chicago
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© Daniel Livermore 2018
ISBN 978-0-7735-5509-9 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-7735-5551-8 (ePDF)
ISBN 978-0-7735-5552-5 (ePUB)
Legal deposit third quarter 2018
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free
(100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which
last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout
the country.
Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier,
le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie
des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Livermore, Daniel, 1946–, author
Detained: Islamic fundamentalist extremism and the war on terror
in Canada / Daniel Livermore.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-0-7735-5509-9 (hardcover). – ISBN 978-0-7735-5551-8 (ePDF). –
ISBN 978-0-7735-5552-5 (ePUB)
1. Terrorism – Canada – Prevention.  2. National security – Canada. 3. Terrorism –
Prevention – International cooperation.  4. Islamic fundamentalism – Canada. 
5. War on Terrorism, 2001–2009.  6. Canada – Foreign relations – United States. 
7. United States – Foreign relations – Canada.  8. Muslims – Canada – Social
conditions – 21st century.  9. Racial profiling in law enforcement – Canada. 
10. Security, International.  I. Title.
HV6433.C3L58 2018 363.3250971 C2018-903371-1
C2018-903372-X
This book was typeset by Marquis Interscript in 10.5/13 Sabon.
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Dedicated to Leslie, Sarah, Simon, and David,
for their infinite patience with this project
And in memory of:
Len Mader, Jim Gould, Peter Bakewell, Don Saunders,
and Michael Chesson, colleagues and friends who left us too soon
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Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements ix
Part one
1 Into the World of Open Conflict 3
2 Into the 1990s 30
3 Ressam and the Eve of 9/11 56
4 The War on Terror Begins 74
5 Afghanistan, “Black Sites,” and the Abyss of Guantanamo Bay 95
6 Rendition, Extraordinary Rendition, and Security Certificates 123
Part two
7 Ahmad Abou-Elmaati 151
8 Abdullah Almalki 171
9 Maher Arar 195
10 Abdullah Khadr 215
11 Abousfian Abdelrazik 231
Conclusion: The Heritage of the War on Terror 250
Notes 261
Bibliography 311
Index 331
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Preface and Acknowledgments
In the decade following the tragic terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001,
dozens of Canadian citizens and residents of Canada were detained and
taken “off the streets” in the deadly international conflict known in the
United States as the “war on terror.” Some of their stories became well
known. Maher Arar spent almost a year in detention in Syrian dungeons
following his rendition from New York by US authorities. Abousfian
Abdelrazik left Canada for a short visit to his native Sudan and ended up
in Sudanese prisons or quasi-asylum in the Canadian embassy in Khartoum.
His return to Canada after six years of exile was finally ordered by the
Federal Court of Canada. Abdullah Khadr, eldest son in what became
known as Canada’s first family of terror, was eventually captured in
Pakistan and jailed in both Pakistan and Canada until his release by the
Canadian courts. Others also made the front pages of Canadian newspa-
pers. Over the course of a decade, many Canadians, Canadian residents,
and persons with ties to Canada were identified as adversaries in the war
on terror and jailed beyond Canadian shores.
This book focuses on Canadians believed by security authorities to be
associated with Islamic fundamentalist extremism and the al Qaeda move-
ment. After the devastating attacks of 9/11, US security and intelligence
organizations were desperately short of “actionable intelligence” on what
they feared would be a second wave of attacks against the US heartland.
They decided to detain suspected extremists worldwide and get them “off
the streets,” to use their exact words, where they could be interrogated
for what they knew about future threats. Among the thousands of people
detained after 9/11 were several Canadians or Canadian residents who
had been identified as suspects by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
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