Abousfian Abdelrazik - Life

Life

Abdelrazik was born in Sudan on January 1, 1962. He initially trained as a machinist and got married. He was imprisoned for his political views after the 1989 military coup by Omar al-Bashir, and fled to Canada as a refugee in 1990. In 1992 he was granted landed immigrant status. He married a French Canadian woman in 1994, and they soon had a daughter together. He became a Canadian citizen in 1995. Muslims who know him have characterized him as a devout Muslim who "often read the Koran to the sick and was paid as a healer." In an interview with Globe and Mail he stated that he has traveled to many places including such countries as Pakistan and Bosnia. He states that he was only involved in humanitarian work, to help people. He further stated that, "my humanitarian trips abroad were funded by my religious work as a Muslim healer in Montreal and also through donations from many individuals in the Muslim community". Abousfian felt it necessary to state why he didn't list the names of his supporters in a letter to the editor of Globe and Mail,"On the urging of my lawyers...I had earned the money by reciting alms. I had not wanted to invite scrutiny of those who paid me, knowing where guilt by association can lead". In 2000, Abdelrazik voluntarily testified via videolink at the trial of Ahmed Ressam, the "millennium bomber". He testified he knew Ahmed Ressam when he met him at the Montreal's Assuna Annabawiah mosque, but had no knowledge of his plans to attack targets in the USA and knew nothing about his whereabouts since he last saw him in Vancouver. In 2001 his first wife died of cancer. While in the Sudan in 2004 his second wife divorced him. He returned to Montreal in June 2009, after Federal Court justice Russel Zinn ruled that the Canadian government must cease violating his rights by failing to facilitate his return.