Ferid Imam is an Ethiopian-born Canadian citizen who is believed to have provided military training to

al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

jihadists in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 2008. Charges filed against him on March 15, 2011, were reported to have been the first time a Canadian had faced terrorism charges for offences alleged to have been committed outside of Canada.

Life in Canada

According to ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' In grade 7 Ferid was an "immigrant from East Africa" in the 1990s. They report he was popular in high school and was on the honor roll and soccer team. One The Globe and Mail article says he studied biochemistry at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

Alleged jihadi activities

In 2007 Imam and two of his friends from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Muhannad al-Farekh and Miawand Yar, traveled to Waziristan, one of Pakistan's loosely controlled

Federally Administered Tribal Agencies The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA; ps, فدرالي قبايلي سيمې; ur, ) was a autonomous administrative division, semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from 1947 until being merged with neighb ...

, where it is believed they sought out jihadis for military training. On March 15, 2011, the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

charged Imam with terrorism related offenses. ''The Globe and Mail'' called the charges a "crucial test" of a new anti-terrorism law. They reported it was the first time in Canadian history a Canadian had been charged with a terrorism related offense committed outside Canada. However, ''The Globe and Mail'' reported that Canadian and American security officials had sought Imam for years, and the formal charges merely made the search official. A Bosian-American named

Adis Medunjanin Najibullah Zazi (born August 10, 1985) is an Afghan-American who was arrested in September 2009 as part of the 2009 U.S. al Qaeda group accused of planning suicide bombings on the New York City Subway system, and who pleaded guilty as have two ...

was convicted in 2012. At his trial further allegations against Imam emerged.

Najibullah Zazi Najibullah Zazi (born August 10, 1985) is an Afghan-American who was arrested in September 2009 as part of the 2009 U.S. al Qaeda group accused of planning suicide bombings on the New York City Subway system, and who pleaded guilty as have two o ...

and Zarein Ahmedzay testified at Medunjanin's trial that the three were friends, who had travelled to Pakistan together, to train for Jihad, and that they were trained by an English speaking individual they knew as "Yousef". Colin Freeze, writing in ''

'', reported security officials believe "Yousef" is Imam's

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

. According to that testimony, Imam provided training in the use of

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

s, rocket propelled grenades and the use, maintenance and assembly and disassembly of AK-47 rifles.

Whereabouts

Imam remains at large. He has been indicted in both the Canadian and US Civil justice systems. Although journalist Colin Freeze speculated that Imam may have been killed by a missile fired from a Predator drone, the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

confirmed in a statement on Farekh's arrest on April 2, 2015 that Imam is still alive and under indictment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imam, Ferid Canadian Muslims 1980 births Living people Ethiopian emigrants to Canada