Raouf Hannachi is a

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

n born

Canadian citizen Canadian nationality law details the conditions in which a person is a national of Canada. With few exceptions, almost all individuals born in the country are automatically citizens at birth. Foreign nationals may naturalize after living in Ca ...

who served as the

Muezzin The muezzin ( ar, مُؤَذِّن) is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer ( ṣalāt) five times a day (Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque. The muezzin plays an important role ...

at Assuna Mosque in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. He was captured by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

government and turned over to

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n officials in October 2001 and jailed.Third Montrealer on detainee list at Guantanamo
''

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 ...

'', March 10, 2006The Charkaoui Case
'' Communist Party of Canada, Marxist-Leninist'' Hannachi became a Canadian citizen in 1986, and lived in

with his wife. Hannachi was an active al-Qaeda member."The Terrorist Within, Chapter 7: Joining Jihad", The Seattle Times, June 27, 2002, March 1, 2010
/ref> Hannachi returned from Afghanistan towards the end of the summer of 1997, where he had trained for ''

jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...

'' at Khalden Camp. He told

Ahmed Ressam Ahmed Ressam ( ar, احمد رسام; also Benni Noris or the Millennium Bomber; born May 9, 1967) is an Algerian al-Qaeda member who lived for a time in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He received extensive terrorist training in Afghanistan. He was c ...

about the experience and ''jihad'', encouraged him to train as well, and ultimately arranged a trip to the camp for Ressam and his roommate

Mustapha Labsi Mustapha Labsi, an Algeria, Algerian living in London, England, was arrested in 2001 on terrorism charges, which were later dropped. He was re-arrested in 2003 for the same charges. Life Labsi was a former roommate of Ahmed Ressam, and travelled to ...

. When

Abu Zubaydah Abu Zubaydah ( ; , ''Abū Zubaydah''; born March 12, 1971, as Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn) is a Saudi Arabian currently held by the U.S. in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. He is held under the authority of Authorization for Use ...

was waterboarded by American intelligence officers, he offered up Hannachi's name among the hundreds of others he listed as conspirators. His

apartment was

wiretap Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...

ped by the

Canadian Security Intelligence Service The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; french: Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité, ''SCRS'') is Canada's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating int ...

(CSIS), who dubbed his circle of friends BOG, ''Bunch of Guys'', and joked that they were like "terrorist tupperware parties" in their boastful talk and lack of any true threat.Pither, Kerry. "Dark Days: The Story of Four Canadians Tortured in the Name of Fighting Terror", 2008. One of them, however, was Ahmed Ressam, the al-Qaeda member known as the Millennium bomber who attempted to blow up the

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian Muslims Tunisian emigrants to Canada People from Montreal {{Canada-crime-bio-stub

See also

References