Hassan Almrei

Hassan Ahmed Almrei ( ar, حسن أحمد المرعي also childhood name ''Abu al-Hareth'') (born in Syria on January 1, 1974),Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Summary of the Security Intelligence Report concerning Hassan Almrei, February 22, 2008. a Syrian citizen, arrived in Canada in 1999 claiming refugee status. He has been since held, and accused of terrorist connections and ideology, for his "reputation... for obtaining false documents", and his relationship with Ibn al-Khattab following time shared together during the Civil war in Tajikistan. He had "not supported Khattab financially or otherwise", but "admired Khattab... had pictures of Khattab on his computer; and visited Chechen extremist websites".

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has also alleged that Almrei has demonstrated a "devotion to Osama bin Laden and his ideals... by fighting in Afghanistan", although he fought Communist-backed troops and rival forces in Afghanistan between 1990 and 1994 while bin Laden was still living in the Sudan. He has argued that it is "gross stereotyping" to suggest that every person who fought the Soviets in Afghanistan must therefore support Osama bin Laden. He claims to believe al-Qaeda is "contrary to the teachings of Islam", and refers to them as a terrorist organisation which participates in unjustified violence. CSIS claims that his role as a soldier in both Afghanistan and Tajikistan prove that he believes in "guns and violence" nevertheless.

After a special prison was built for the five long-term prisoners held on security certificates, four were released on bail and house arrest terms, leaving Almrei as the sole occupant of the prison which continued to operate at a cost of $2.6 million annually to house Almrei alone.Freeze, Colin. ''The Globe and Mail''
Watching an al-Qaeda suspect costs up to $1-million a year
November 16, 2008. He was ordered released under house arrest by a Federal Court judge on January 2, 2009.''Calgary Herald''
Final national security certificate suspect released
, January 2, 2009. On December 14, 2009, he was further released and not considered a suspect anymore. The evidence against him was based on informants' tips, wiretaps, and his admission of travel to places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. The case against him was based on outdated and sketchy knowledge of Al Qaeda and other extremist Islamic groups, and loaded with information that "could only be construed as unfavourable to Almrei without any serious attempt to include information to the contrary.""Man hounded by Ottawa loses 'terrorist' tag at last"

Life

Although born in Syria, Almrei's family moved to Dammam, Saudi Arabia when he was 7 since his paternal uncle had been sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for his role in the Muslim Brotherhood - his father was sentenced to death ''in absentia'' in Syria, as he worked as a teacher in Saudi Arabia. He has eight siblings in Saudi Arabia, and one sister who moved to Lebanon with her husband.Almrei, Hassan. Affidavit of November 10, 2002. He memorised the Quran while he was young.

He claims to have been self-employed since February 1990 when he finished high school, though he later stated that he'd spent several months doing office work for the charitable Muslim African Agency following graduation.

He later explained that he had traveled towards Afghanistan, after using his father's contacts in the Muslim Brotherhood to purchase a forged Syrian passport, to attend a Jalalabad camp run by Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a commander in the Northern Alliance. However, he contracted malaria and remained in a guest house called '' Bait al-Ansar'' in Peshawar for a year before attending Sayyaf's camp, where'd he trained on an AK-47 with a group named ''Ittihad-i-Islami''. He made three subsequent trips into Afghanistan to stay at the camps under Sayyaf's leadership, using his savings to finance the third trip.

In 1994 left Sayyaf's company and traveled to Kunduz to follow Ibn al-Khattab instead, and met Nabil al-Marabh.Almrei v. Canada (MCI), DES-5-01 (F.C.T.D.), Condensed Transcript of Proceedings, January 6, 2004, pp. 1271-1274, 1395-1397.

Almrei claims he traveled to Pakistan to investigate business possibilities selling honey and perfume. He was in Pakistan from November 1994 through March 1995, and went to Yemen in March 1995. He also claims to have traveled twice in Tajikistan during the year, where he scouted on Soviet positions for Ibn al-Khattab, and although he was willing to fight in combat, he claims he served chiefly as an Imam to the group and was never involved in any major combat, though he saw several skirmishes. When Khattab moved on to fight in the First Chechen War, he would still phone and fax Almrei with updates on the struggle.

He has stated that he closed his business from as early as 1996 to as late as January 1998, and was unemployed from thence on.Almrei, Hassan. Personal Information Form for People Claiming Convention Refugee Status, October 8, 1999.

Although ''New York Times'' reporter Judith Miller claimed that he used his honey business to smuggle money for militants, analysts say there is no evidence to support that and Almrei has raised issue with Miller's history of controversy. After her story was published, he claimed that he sold chiefly perfume and oud, but later stated that he sold primarily honey, importing 500 kg from Pakistan.

He unsuccessfully tried to immigrate to Canada with his Syrian passport #3286630 on April 19, 1998, stating that he wished to visit Hisham Al Taha in Richmond, British Columbia. He later claimed to have never spoken to al Taha and that he'd just put down his name on the advice of a friend who told him it would improve his chances of being accepted for a visa.Almrei, Hassan. ''Application for a Visitor Visa'', April 19, 1998.

He traveled to Thailand in August 1998, where he met a Palestinian people smuggler named Ghaled whom he befriended given his own reputation for acquiring false passports.Almrei v. Canada (MCI), DES-5-01, (F.C.T.D.), Condensed Transcript of Proceedings, January 7, 2004, pp. 1403-1407, 1421-1425, 1442.

In Canada

On January 2, 1999, he flew to Toronto Pearson International Airport from Jordan. Upon landing he claimed that he had used a forged passport from the United Arab Emirates and had destroyed it. He was picked up at the airport by his "good friend" Ahmed Al Kaysee, whom he'd met while in Afghanistan.

In September 1999, Almrei and five other men had been in a restricted portion of Pearson Airport, as they "appeared to have access cards and codes". The explanation has been offered that these six men were working in the airport at temporary jobs, and their credentials were legitimate. He also maintained contact with the Thai smuggler. Attending Jami Mosque, Almrei met Ibrahim Ishak, who introduced himself as a Bosnian immigration consultant. Almrei later directed two people seeking help acquiring G-class driver's licences to Ishak, who paid him for the referral.Almrei, Hassan. Affidavit, November 9, 2005.

Within months of arriving, he had become close friends with Hassan Ahmed, and would help him with his fruit stand, where he initially had trouble speaking to female customers due to his religious upbringing; but later began to flirt openly with them as his religious stance relaxed. He suggested that he was interested in finding a prospective wife. Ahmed would later register a cell phone for Almrei in his name.

Almrei says he was contacted by al-Marabh, from the Kunduz guesthouse, while the latter was still living in the United States, and was asked to help him acquire a false passport for C$2,000. He says that since al-Marabh introduced himself as "Abu Adnan", he did not immediately recognise that it was him. Almrei used his childhood name, "Abu al-Hareth", during the transaction. The two met at the Toronto copy store owned by al-Marabh's uncle, Ahmed Shehab, where a number of prominent forged identity cards were later found - and Almrei sold him the fake passport. Almrei says he was later asked to find a second passport for him, but refused.

After al-Marabh was arrested trying to illegally enter the United States hiding in a tractor trailer, Almrei visited him in the Thorold prison, and collected money from colleagues to loan him C$2,500 for bail. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigated Almrei's procurement of the false passport, but opted not to press charges.

He was granted refugee status in June 2000, stating that he feared persecution in Syria due to his father's alleged membership in the Muslim Brotherhood.

In January 2000, Almrei purchased a Middle Eastern eatery named Eat-A-Pita for C$22,000. One of his employees who was working "under the table" due to her visa restrictions, asked Almrei if he knew any men who might enter a marriage of convenience if she offered them C$4,000 to allow her to remain in the country. Knowing that Ishak, whom he'd met a year earlier at the mosque, was in need of money, Almrei informed him of the proposal, and the pair had a civil marriage at city hall as well as a formal Islamic marriage at the mosque, and Almrei served as a witness to both marriages.Lemieux, Justice. "Hassan Almrei and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Minister of Public Safety. ""Reasons for Judgment and Judgment", October 5, 2007. Almrei also drafted a fake reference letter from his restaurant to indicate that Ishak was an employee, to help support his case for sponsoring his new wife to become a Canadian. On September 13, 2000, Almrei's residence was searched and the forged passport was discovered. Ishak was stopped in Detroit while flying back to Canada on January 14, 2001, and charged with carrying bundles of fake identification and a crimping machine. Ishak returned to Bosnia, withdrawing his sponsorship of Almrei's former cashier. Feeling personally responsible, Almrei paid her back the C$4,000 Ishak had taken, out of his own pocket in October 2001, when he learned that Ishak was convicted of scamming prospective emigrants in Bosnia.

Friends spoke of Almrei as having poor financial sense, and often had to borrow money.Homes not Bombs,
Stay of Deportation Granted to Secret Trial Detainee Hassan Almrei
", November 28, 2003. In August 2000, Almrei sold the restaurant for $18,500. He reported becoming depressed and being unemployed for a while, until a friend had to travel overseas due to his father's death, and asked Almrei if he would run his business for several months. He was paid with a used van, and used it to find work making restaurant deliveries throughout the city, earning $800–1000 monthly. His cell phone was cut off due to lapsed payments, and he sometimes drove uninsured because he could not afford the payments.

Arrest

On October 19, 2001, Almrei was brought to his lawyer's office for a CSIS interview; where he again reiterated his travels and denied having ever been to Sudan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Dagestan or Chechnya. He was also confronted with the fact that photographs of Ibn Khattab, Osama bin Laden and Mohamed Atta were found on his computer, though he protested that agents were taking them out of context and had simply been photos from news agencies such as BBC
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