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After a 26- year legal battle, Canada boots convicted terrorist Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad

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Mahmoud Mohammed Issa Mohammad, the convicted Palestinian terrorist who has lived in Brantford for more than 25 years, has been deported to Lebanon.

 

Mohammad, who had lived on Ashgrove Avenue with his family since 1988, was returned to Lebanon by the Canadian Border Services Agency on Friday. His deportation brings to an end a legal odyssey that began shortly after it was discovered that Mohammad had entered Canada illegally and was living in Brantford.

"This sends a very clear message to the rest of the world that Canada is a generous nation and is open to law-abiding citizens but it is closed to liars, murderers and terrorists," federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told The Expositor. "This case was an embarrassment to Canada.

"He made a mockery of our generosity and he abused our generosity.

"Even 60 Minutes, one of the most-watched public affairs show, in the world came up to interview him."

Over the past 25 years, Mohammad has used every legal loophole and avenue possible to stay in Canada. A flurry of appeals in recent weeks were rejected.

"He (Mohammad) even went to the hospital in Brantford claiming to have health problems that would prevent him from travelling. But Canadian officials checked his health and made sure medical assistance was available to him during his flight to Lebanon under the care of Canadian Border Security Agency officials," Kenney said.

The minister added that officials were ready to deport Mohammad two weeks ago, but that was delayed because of his health concerns.

So, Kenney said CBSA chartered a plane with special medical equipment on board to make sure that Mohammad's deportation would fly without a hitch.

"If this guy got on a commercial aircraft and suddenly said he was feeling chest pains or something, we didn't want to have to turn that plane around and have him back in Canada," Kenney said.

Kenney announced Mohammad's deportation in Ottawa on Monday.

"He (Mohammad) stormed a civilian airline in 1968 with a fellow terrorist, throwing grenades and firing live rounds at innocent civilians, killing one," Kenney said in his announcement. "He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 17 years by the Greek courts.

"Later that year, he was released as the result of a hostage negotiation when fellow members of the popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine stormed another plane demanding his release."

After being released as part of a hostage exchange, Mohammad obtained residency in Lebanon. In 1987, he emigrated to Canada under a false alias, through immigration fraud, Kenney said.

"He lied about his identity, he lied about not having a criminal past, he lied about not having ties to terrorist organizations."

Kenney called the Mohammad's case a "cautionary tale" that should never be allowed to happen again.

"He (Mohammad) flagrantly violated Canada's fair immigration laws and this country's generosity," Kenney said. "He made a mockery of our legal system.

"We believe that even criminals should get due process and they should get their day in court, but they should not be able to abuse our fair process and have endless years in court delaying their deportation, especially someone like this who is a terrorist killer."

In an interview, Kenney said that he studied Mohammad's case to see what, if anything, could be done to prevent something like this every happening again.

As a result, measures have been implemented to make sure someone like Mohammad can't slip by border officials.

"We're bringing in biometric visas so we can positively confirm the identity of people and we're sharing data on applicants for visas more extensively with allied countries," Kenney said. "As well, we're brining in an electronic travel authorization system to scan people even from visa exempt countries."

Under the new system, a decision on a case like Mohammad's would be made in a matter of weeks rather than years and that he would have one appeal before being subject to removal, he said.

Brant MP Phil McColeman said he is pleased with the government's action because it sends a message that we will not allow people who are convicted criminals and who misrepresent themselves to get into Canada will not be allowed to remain here

"As country we accept people from all over the world who want to come to Canada and we expect that when they come here they are law-abiding citizens who play by the rules," McColeman said. "We can't and we shouldn't tolerate it when people misrepresent themselves in order to get into Canada.

"First and foremost as a government our job is the protection of our citizens."

Although there are some who would argue Mohammad has lived peacefully in Brantford for 25 years and should be left alone, McColeman said the Canada simply can't allow people who lie about their criminal past to remain in Canada.

"What do we say to the thousands of others who are law-abiding citizens who are honest about their background and who want to come to Canada," he asked rhetorically. "To do otherwise, to allow someone like him to stay, we'd be legitimizing misrepresenting yourself to get into Canada and saying that well, if you do that, and stay here long enough, we'll forget about it."

He noted that successive governments had tried but failed to deport Mohammad. That he was allowed to use legal loopholes and various other means to stay in Canada for more than 25 years shows how broken the immigration and refugee determination system had become, McColeman said.

The government has closed those loopholes and put a stop to that kind of legal maneuvering by legislation - the Fast Removal of Foreign Criminals Act - which makes it enables the government to deport foreign criminals. Under the legislation, foreign criminals convicted and imprisoned for serious crimes would not longer be able to delay their deportations by filing appeals on the basis of humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

An Expositor reporter rang the doorbell of Mohammad's Ashgrove Avenue home on Monday afternoon but there was no answer. There were two vehicles in the driveway but the curtains were drawn and the house was dark.

The discovery that Mohammad was living in Brantford set off a media storm that continued to erupt at various times over the past 25 years.

Derek Blackburn, who was the NDP MP for Brant at the time it was discovered a convicted Palestinian terrorist was living in Brantford, told The Expositor at the time that he was told by then Solicitor General James Kelleher that Mohammad was under constant surveillance but was not considered a threat to public safety.

"I won't be satisfied until he is out of Brantford and out of the country," Blackburn said in January 1988. "He is a convicted terrorist and he got here by illegal means."

However, published reports from back in the late 1980s, quote Mohammad as saying that he regretted violence and that he lied about his past to give his wife and three children a chance to escape violence for a better life in Canada.

In those interviews - with The Globe and Mail and CBC - Mohammad said he was born in 1943 in the northern part of Palestine. During the creation of Israel five years later, he and his family fled from Israeli troops and on the way to refugee camps in Lebanon his father and 18-year-old brother were wounded.

In the late 1960s, he was a school teacher when he was approached by officers of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to take part in the Athens attack.

He said then that the attack was supposed to be against the plane and that he and his accomplice were not to hurt anyone. He also said then that he and his accomplice were surprised to find there were passengers on the plane.

He said he was shocked and sad to learn that someone had died adding that he believed human life was sacred.

After being freed through a hostage exchange, Mohammad said he resigned from the Popular Front to run his own business.

Then, in 1984, he said he and his family went to Madrid on a business visa and set up an export business selling leather and textiles. A year later he spoke to Canadian embassy officials in Madrid before flying to Quebec where his application for immigration was accepted by the provincial government.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs welcomed news of Mohammad's deportation.

"It is a relief that, although long delayed, justice was ultimately not denied in this case," the Centre's CEO Shimon Fogel said in a statement.

"For just as it is critical that we provide swift and compassionate support to legitimate refugees, it is likewise essential that we prevent Canada from being used as a safe haven for terrorists."

Kenney told reporters that Mohammad - who is stateless - had married a Lebanese national and had legal status in Lebanon. Canada has concluded he would not face any risks in Lebanon.

With files from QMI Agency

Timeline

Here's a timeline of the case of convicted terrorist Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad's legal fight to remain in Canada:

-Feb. 25, 1987 - Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad enters Canada illegally by lying about his criminal past on an application for immigration.

-Jan. 17, 1988 - The media discover Mohammad, with his wife and three children, living on Ashgrove Avenue in Brantford.

-Feb. 23, 1988 - An attempt is made to spirit Mohammad out of the country to Algeria. But the attempt fails and he returns to Canada.

- March 14, 1988 - The deportation hearing for Mohammad begins. It ends Dec. 14, 1988 with the adjudicator ruling Mohammad should be deported. An order isn't issued, though, because Mohammad applies for refugee status.

- Aug. 21, 1989 - A credible basis hearing begins to determine if Mohammad has enough evidence to support a full refugee hearing. It gets bogged down over legal arguments over whether the media should be allowed to attend the hearing. The hearing continues after an adjudicator barred the media, and ends on April 22, 1992.

- Nov. 26, 1992 - The adjudicator rules that Mohammad should get the chance to present his case at a full refugee hearing.

- March 8, 1993 - The refugee hearing for Mohammad begins and the media is barred from covering it despite appeals by The Expositor.

- June 1995 - A refugee panel denies Mohammad's application for refugee status, saying he didn't qualify as a convention refugee and even if he did, he would be automatically excluded from Canada for having committed a '"serious non-political crime."

- Subsequently, Mohammad filed numerous appeals of the decision through Canada's court system including the Federal Court of Appeal. He argued the government acted illegally because it was trying to deport him under legislation that wasn't in place when he arrived in Canada and, in fact, became law after he had been living here. More recently, Mohammad argued that he ought not to be deported because his health is bad.

- February 2013 - MPs vote 149-130 in favour of the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, a controversial bill that makes it easier for the federal government to deport foreign criminals.

- May 11, 2013 - At 4:40 a.m. the Canadian Border Services Agency returns Mohammad to Lebanon.

-May 13, 2013 - Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announces that Mohammad has been returned to Lebanon, saying Mohammad's case represents "just how broken Canada's immigration and refugee determination system had become under previous governments."

 

 

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