Canadians with alleged terrorist links
CBC News compiles list of alleged extremists of interest to Canadian, international authorities
The Canadian Government rarely offers details about Canadian extremists it believes pose a threat, but with the help of terrorism experts and using open sources of information, CBC News has pieced together a list of 18 Canadians accused of dangerous terrorist connections.
Here is the list in alphabetical order (click to go directly to the profiles):
Canadians charged by the RCMP but still at large
Canadians reported to be fighting or supporting extremists abroad, but not charged
- Mohammed Ali
- Sami Elabi
- Collin Gordon
- Gregory Gordon
- Umm Haritha
- Omar Hassan
- Mohammad Ibrahim
- John Maguire
- Abu Dujana al-Muhajir
- Farah Mohamed Shirdon
Canadians accused of possible terrorist links by other countries
(If you have any information you wish to share on this topic or any other, contact Timothy Sawa at timothy.sawa@cbc.ca or Dave Seglins at dave.seglins@cbc.ca.)
Canadians charged by the RCMP but still at large:
Ferid Ahmed Imam
According to the RCMP, the former University of Manitoba student left Canada in 2007 for Pakistan, where he provided weapons instruction at an al-Qaeda training camp. The FBI unsealed an indictment in 2011, alleging Imam helped train and support three American men in a 2009 plot to blow up the New York subway.
According to news reports, he was last spotted in the tribal areas of Pakistan in 2010. "We have sought and obtained help from the Pakistani authorities during the course of this investigation," RCMP Sgt. Julie Gagnon told the QMI News Agency in May of 2011.
- Terror charges laid against former Winnipeggers
- Businessman reels at former worker's terror charges
- Indictment document against Ferid Ahmed Imam
Ahmad Waseem
RCMP charged the Windsor man in 2014 with passport fraud after it was revealed he travelled to Syria twice - allegedly to join extremist fighters. The RCMP won’t confirm if the charges are related to those trips.
On a visit home from Syria in 2013 to recuperate from injuries, Waseem reportedly rejected appeals from his family and the police and returned to Syria. He’s currently believed to be back in Syria.
A Twitter account associated with Waseem, which has now been suspended, said: "My Brothers in Canada, let not the pressure of Law Enforcement deter you from Hira&Jihad. For if Allah is with you, then who can stop you?"
- Ahmad Waseem, jihadi in Syria, ignored family's pleas to stay in Canada
- Ahmad Waseem case illustrates Canada's foreign fighter problem
- RCMP look into Calgary link with possible Islamic militants
Maiwand Yar
The former mechanical engineering student at the University of Manitoba is accused of attending the same al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan as Ferid Ahmed Imam.
According to the RCMP, the pair intended to "fight and kill NATO soldiers in Afghanistan."
Hasibullah Yusufzai
The British Columbia man is the first to be charged under a new law that makes it illegal to travel abroad to participate in terrorist activity. The RCMP allege Yusufzai left Canada for Syria in January 2014.
"The individual is known to have travelled to Syria to join Islamist fighters," the RCMP said in a statement in July 2014. "This case underscores the reality that there are individuals in Canada who have embraced the extremist ideology and who are willing to act upon it," the RCMP said.
His family denies the allegations, telling CBC News their son loved God, was a good human being who wouldn't hurt anyone and was not a terrorist.
- Hasibullah Yusufzai, of Burnaby, B.C., faces terror-related charge
- Burnaby terror suspect didn't stand out
Canadians reported to be fighting or supporting extremists abroad, but not charged
Mohammed Ali
The National Post identifies Ali as the 23-year-old Mississauga man behind the Twitter name Abu Turaab al-Kanadi.
Ali reportedly left Canada for Syria in April. The Post reports Ali told his parents he was flying to Turkey "for a tour." But he crossed into northern Syria and his Twitter account says he is now in the “Islamic State.”
“Kill a kaffir [non-believer] and secure your place in Jannah [paradise],” he posted to Twitter as recently as Nov. 17, according to SITE, a website that monitors terrorism. “If you are unable to make hijrah [migration], know that you have permission to strike them in their lands.”
He also recently made threats specifically against Canada. “First Ottawa, then Quebec. [God is the greatest] Strike them, just as they strike your brothers and sisters,” he wrote after the attacks in Canada in October.
Sami Elabi
A CBC investigation revealed the Montreal man joined ISIS around April 2013 when he posted pictures of himself in Syria wearing fighter gear. Online, Elabi calls himself Abu Safwan al-Kanadi (the Canadian). In a Facebook post, he wrote, “They told me: There is only one life, you have to know how to live it. There is only one death, you have to know how to prepare for it.”
There are also photos and videos of Elabi and other fighters online, firing weapons and using explosives to blow up a structure.
In January 2014, he posted a video of himself burning what appears to be a passport. Elabi was last reported to be fighting in Syria after recuperating from battle wounds in Turkey.
- The digital journal of a Montreal-born jihadist
- Video: Samil Elabi in Syria
- Another Canadian jihadi slips through the cracks
Collin Gordon
Collin is Gregory Gordon's younger brother. The Calgary man who studied business at the Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C., is believed to have been fighting with ISIS in Syria and Iraq since late 2012.
According to CBC News, Gordon frequently posts to Facebook and Twitter, where he has pledged his allegiance to the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and called the beheading of American journalist James Foley "the perfection of terrorism."
- Gregory and Collin Gordon, Calgary brothers, join ranks of Canadians fighting for ISIS
- Calgary Muslims shocked ISIS recruits lived among them
- How ISIS recruited Collin Gordon, former Thompson Rivers University student
Gregory Gordon
Gregory is Collin Gordon’s older brother. The Calgary man is believed to have travelled to Syria to join ISIS at the same time as his sibling - in late 2012.
Little is known about Gregory. Sources told CBC he has sickle-cell anemia and "was constantly in and out of hospital" when he lived in Calgary.
In a statement to CBC News, his family says: "We would like all to know we love and miss our sons dearly. We are deeply concerned for their safety. At this time we refuse to speculate with regards to the end of their story. We continue to keep hope alive."
- Gregory and Collin Gordon, Calgary brothers, join ranks of Canadians fighting for ISIS
- Calgary Muslims shocked ISIS recruits lived among them
- ISIS recruits in Canada spark Liberal call for parliamentary probe
Umm Haritha
The 20-year-old woman from Canada travelled to Turkey "against her parents’ wishes," in November 2013, according to CBC News. Within a week, Haritha was in Syria and shortly after that she married a Palestinian from Sweden fighting for ISIS.
Within months of their wedding, her husband was killed by a suicide bomber from a rival jihadist faction.
In an interview conducted by text message, Haritha told CBC News she moved to Canada as a child and lived there for 14 years before leaving for Syria. She was a university student in Canada at the time.
In July 2014, Haritha was living in a house with the widows of other fallen jihadists in Manbij, a town of 100,000 people near the Turkish border that is controlled by ISIS.
Omar Hassan
Originally from Somalia, Hassan travelled to Canada as a refugee when he was a small boy but returned to Africa in 2010 in his twenties to join the al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab.
According to interviews with investigative journalist Fatuma Noor, reporting for the Nairobi Star, Hassan claims he left Canada because of discrimination. "There has never been integration of Somalis and native Canadians. Why do you think we all live at the same place and they stay far away from us?"
Hassan claims al-Shabaab is not a terror group, but says, "This is a holy war and all the young people who have died before us have done that for the sake of religion."
Mohammad Ibrahim
In January 2013, Agence France-Presse reported that Ibrahim identified himself as a Canadian fighting in Pakistan, claiming his plan was to return to Canada to wage jihad at home.
Ibrahim said he had lived in Pakistan for three years, but said drone strikes were making it too hard to operate there.
"Foreigners are now afraid to come to Pakistan because of the drone strikes," he told the AFP.
John Maguire
The Ottawa man is reportedly under investigation by the RCMP after travelling to Syria to join ISIS as a foreign fighter in January 2013. Online, he calls himself "Yahya" and says he is going to have the "reward of jihad" and "the opportunity for martyrdom." He refers to Canada as "evil.”
The National Post reported in August 2014 that the RCMP questioned his family and friends and confirmed he had travelled to Syria "on a one-way ticket."
Abu Dujana al-Muhajir
He claims to be a Canadian foreign fighter who travelled to Syria with a group of young men from Calgary in late 2012. Abu Dujana writes a blog where he eulogizes Canadians who have died fighting in Syria, ridicules Canadian intelligence agencies and claims jihad is becoming "as Canadian as maple syrup."
In his most recent blog post, from July 2014, Abu Dajana urges the mother of Canadian-born ISIS fighter Damian Clairmont, who was killed in Syria, to consider Islam "with an open heart." The name Abu Dajana used in Canada is unknown.
Farah Mohamed Shirdon
This Calgarian in his early 20s was enrolled in the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology until at least 2012, and was last reported to be fighting overseas with ISIS.
Shirdon appears in an ISIS video released in April 2014. Before burning his Canadian passport, Shirdon, in full view of the camera, issues a threat to Canada, the U.S. and "all oppressors": "We are coming and we will destroy you by the will of God."
Shirdon was reported dead in August, but then was interviewed by the U.S. website Vice.com on Sept. 23. "God willing, we will make some attacks in New York soon, a lot of brothers are mobilizing there right now in the west, thanks to Allah," he says in the video interview.
ISIS members were "mobilizing for a brilliant attack, my friend," he adds.
- Farah Mohamed Shirdon, Canadian jihadist thought killed in Iraq, appears in Vice video
- Farah Mohamed Shirdon of Calgary, fighting for ISIS, dead in Iraq, reports say
- Farah Mohamed Shirdon of Calgary fighting for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
Canadians accused of possible terrorist links by other countries
Faker Boussora
Reportedly an associate of Abderraouf Jdey and a resident of Canada, Boussora was last seen living in the Montreal area in the late 1990s.
According to the National Counterterrorism Center in the U.S., Boussora "is an al-Qaeda-trained operative with declared intentions of becoming a suicide martyr."
According to The Boston Globe, he left Canada for Europe, possibly together with Jdey, in November 2001. "Authorities remain concerned that Boussora may attempt to return to Canada or the United States to plan or participate in a terrorist attack," his National Counterterrorism Center profile says.
The FBI website lists him as "wanted for questioning." A $5-million US reward is offered for information leading to his capture.
- New al-Qaeda link allegation stuns Montreal
- Two Canadians among fugitive al-Qaeda members: U.S. officials
- Canadians who have 'fallen prey' to Islamic extremism
- U.S. seeks Canadian terror suspects
Abderraouf Jdey
According to the U.S. Justice Department, the Montreal man was among six men who were seen in a videotape of al-Qaeda members delivering a martyrdom message, vowing to die waging war against Western "infidels." The tape was found in the rubble of a home in Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden’s military chief is believed to have lived.
Jdey was last seen in the Montreal area in 2001 and holds a Canadian passport.
An October 2014 QMI News Agency report says, "he's currently believed to be fighting in Somalia with al-Shabaab."
The FBI is offering a reward of $5 million US for information leading to his capture.
- U.S. seeks Canadian terror suspects
- 'Faces of Global Terrorism' posters adorn airports
- Canadians on an FBI terror list
Amer El-Maati
In 2004, then-FBI director Robert Mueller said El-Maati, a Canadian citizen, is an al-Qaeda member and a licensed pilot who “is believed to have discussed hijacking a plane in Canada and flying it into a building into the United States.”
El-Maati was born in Kuwait but moved to Toronto as a teen and went to university in Montreal. When he graduated, according to reports by CBC News, he went to Pakistan and Afghanistan and joined the fight against Soviet forces occupying Afghanistan.
In 2001, El-Maati's name was discovered on several documents in an al-Qaeda safehouse in Afghanistan. One of the documents was a letter stating El-Maati had been issued a Canadian passport in Pakistan in 1998. On its website, the FBI says he should be “considered armed and dangerous.”
Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
The controversial Canadian-Jamaican imam is unwelcome in the U.K. because he is considered a “threat.” More recently, he was added to a "blacklist" in the Philippines because of "possible terror-links." Philips also acknowledges he has been identified as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York.
Much of the controversy around Philips stems from statements he made in 1995 that appear to support suicide bombers, suggesting the tactic is a legitimate "military action." Philips admits to using those words, but said that’s only in the context of a “battlefield” situation.
“I’ve spoken out strongly against any kind of attacks on civilians,” Philips told CBC News. “People going and blowing themselves up in airports or supermarkets or restaurants or any other civilian area, I am one-hundred-and-ten-percent against any of that.”
He says Canadian officials have reviewed these comments and decided they don’t make him a threat.
"There is sufficient evidence to prove my innocence," Philips adds on his website. "It is very sad that lecturers and speakers like myself, who call to Islamic moderation and oppose extremism, terrorism, indiscriminate violence and revolt, are blocked from conveying this peaceful message."
Philips is based in the United Arab Emirates, but he regularly appears at events in Canada and was the imam at a Toronto mosque.
(If you have any information you wish to share on this topic or any other, contact Timothy Sawa at timothy.sawa@cbc.ca or Dave Seglins at dave.seglins@cbc.ca.)