National security detainee Jaballah returns to court

AnEgyptian-born man accused by the Canadian government of being a threat to national security will be back in a Toronto court on Monday.

Mahmoud Jaballah has been detained since 2001 on a national security certificate. He has been denied asylum, a decision upheld by a Federal Court earlier this year.

Jaballah has argued that he will be tortured if he is deported to Egypt.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Canada heard arguments on the validity ofsecurity certificates. A decision isn't expected for several months.

Critics have argued that the certificates denydetainees their Charter rights to due process. Non-citizens who are accused of being threats to national security can be held for years without charge, and are only allowed to see summaries of the case against them.

Jaballah was first arrested in 1999 on allegations that he was linked to an Egyptian group called Al Jihad, which the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service identified as a "terrorist organization." The accusations were thrown out months later.

In 2001, he was arrested again after CSIS said there was new evidence linking him to the group. It has accused Jaballah of fighting alongside Muslim extremists in wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya.

Al Jihad has advocated overthrowing the Egyptian government and replacing it with an Islamic state. In recent years, the group has been accused of working in concert with al-Qaeda.

Jaballah had been teaching at a Muslim school in Toronto when he was arrested. His wife and four of their children have been granted refugee status in Canada.