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Man seeks answers over jailing |
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A Lebanese-born Canadian has roped in Amnesty International to help
clear his name after being briefly jailed in Mexico over alleged links
to terrorism.
Sami Kahil, 38, was arrested in Ixtapa at American request after his name was found to be on the US "no-fly" list. Kahil and his family say it is a case of mistaken identity.
The Mississauga resident, who moved to Canada as a student when he was around 20, has hired a legal team that includes high profile immigration and refugee lawyer Barbara Jackman to clear his name.
Amnesty International spokesperson John Tackaberry says Amnesty's Canadian Secretary General, Alex Neve, will meet Kahil next week.
"Mr. Kahil's case raises a number of serious concerns about the Canadian government's involvement and the US no-fly list," he said.
Back home in Canada, Kahil demanded answers as to why he was detained in the first place.
"I have yet to receive one phone call from the Canadian, Mexican or U.S. government," he said in an interview with the Mississauga News.
Kahil said he and his wife lost $5,000 they spent for an all-inclusive trip to Ixtapa. His wife and two young sons were sent home after hitting the tarmac in Ixtapa, while Kahil was held overnight in a Mexican detention centre after his name appeared on the American no-fly list.
"If that was really me on that list, why am I back home? Why am I not being detained for questioning by the Americans," he said. "If it really was me on that list, I wouldn't be here. They ruined me. They ruined my name."
When Kahil travelled to the US in the past using his Canadian passport, he encountered no problems.
The US Department of Homeland Security maintains this wasn't a case of mistaken identity, even though they didn't detain Kahil or charge him with an offence. Canada's Foreign Affairs department also said they have no plans to detain or charge Kahil.
The US no-fly list, which was brought in place to keep terrorists from boarding planes, has been criticized often for cases of mistaken identity.
Kahil, a shoe store owner in Toronto and Canadian citizen for more than 20 years, says he was forced to sleep on a concrete floor with only a blanket and pillow in Mexico, although he was allowed to keep the family's three suitcases and his cell phone, before being escorted home on a private jet by two RCMP officers.
Kahil's parents, a younger brother who is with the Lebanese army and three sisters still live in Lebanon.
Kahil has hired five lawyers, including top legal expert Jackman who is currently representing 31-year-old Syrian refugee Hassan Almrei, who has been held in a Toronto jail for the past four years under Canada's controversial national security certificate.
Kahil's name may have been connected by security services to Muayyed Nureddin, a Canadian who was under investigation in 2004 and who spent a month in a Damascus jail without being charged and is now suing the Canadian government for allegedly passing information to Syrian authorities.
Kahil said he has met Nureddin, who "works for a supplier where I buy my shoes in Brampton. I don't associate with that guy. I don't know him much except when I go to buy shoes (for the store) he's there."
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Newsfile 