Wife wants bail for Gatineau man arrested in Paris bombing

The wife of an Ottawa-area man arrested last week in a deadly bombing outside a Paris synagogue in 1980 said she believes he is innocent and will take responsibility for him if he is released on bail.

Rania Tfaily, requesting to be a surety for 55-year-old Hassan Diab, told Ontario Superior Court in Ottawa on Friday that she would turn him in if he breaks his bail conditions.

"I believe he's innocent, I've known him for some time," Tfaily, a university professor, told Justice Michel Charbonneau.

Diab, who taught sociology at both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, was arrested in Gatineau, Que., on Nov. 13 at the request of French authorities, who are accusing him of making and planting a bomb that killed four people and injured 20 others on Oct. 3, 1980.

Tfaily, testifying at a hearing to determine whether Diab should be released from custody while he awaits an extradition hearing, admitted the couple's relationship is complicated and had been strained in the past year.

However, she said, Diab had discussed political events throughout their relationship, on topics that include terrorism, the deaths of innocent people and mass murder.

"I know enough of that to realize he would never do such a thing," she said.

Tfaily said she was still willing to mortgage her condo and put up $15,000 bail to support her common-law husband's release while awaiting an extradition hearing to determine if Diab should be released to French officials. In France, Diab would face charges of murder and attempted murder.

A day earlier, federal lawyer Claude Lefrançois had questioned Diab about a trip he took to Cuba with another woman unbeknownst to his wife, alleging that it raised questions about Diab's reliability.

Diab's lawyer, Rene Duval, accused Lefrancois of cultural intolerance and sexism for the way the federal attorney questioned Tfaily, 31, and for his portrayal of Diab's past relations.

"He made the point that she is younger than him," Duval told Ontario Superior Court Justice Michel Charbonneau. "This is sexism."

Lefrancois rebutted that his queries about the Cuba trip were central to Diab's trustworthiness in the event he is released on bail. He said Tfaily's reluctance to criticize Diab for his affair was relevant in terms of her ability to manage Diab if he is released on bail before the extradition hearings.

Charbonneau has scheduled a verdict on the bail request for Dec. 3.

According to evidence in French documents released by the court Thursday, Diab was identified as a suspect in the case partly by secret foreign intelligence, and partly by statements made by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who allegedly knew Diab as a former member of the group.

French police said the Paris bomb was strapped to a motorcycle parked outside the synagogue, and that the men who sold that motorcycle helped police put together a sketch of the man who bought it. Police said that sketch looks very much like Diab did in 1980.