40 Facts About Mohamed Harkat

The Harkat case is one of Canada's longest-running judicial matters.

Mohamed Harkat was born in Taguine, Algeria to El-Ait, and is one of seven sons.

Mohamed Harkat's father was born in Algeria, but worked both there and in France in the construction business.

Mohamed Harkat offered them the use of a family-owned house in Zmalet El Emir Abdelkader as a registered district office.

Mohamed Harkat was excused from Algerian military service because he broke his left leg as a child and it never properly healed.

Mohamed Harkat was not present, and was warned by his uncle that security forces were seeking him.

Mohamed Harkat fled Algeria in 1990 as a university student opposed to its then military-backed government.

Mohamed Harkat departed in April 1990 for a trip to Saudi Arabia using a Hajj passport.

Mohamed Harkat lived off his $18,000 in savings for the next year.

Mohamed Harkat has made contradictory statements suggesting he either deposited $12,000 of his earnings in a bank through his friend Haji Wazir, or that he never used a bank and kept all his money with him.

CSIS contends that Pacha Wazir, to whom they believe Mohamed Harkat is referring, is an Emirati citizen known to have connections to al-Qaeda.

In September 1995, Mohamed Harkat paid $5000 for airfare to travel from Pakistan to Malaysia, from where he hoped to catch a direct flight to Canada.

Mohamed Harkat contacted Taher, a colleague he had met in 1994 in Peshawar then living in Ottawa, Ontario.

Mohamed Harkat arranged to meet him at the Ottawa bus station, since he said he had been told that it was best to start a refugee claim from the city.

Mohamed Harkat allowed Harkat to live with him for a week or two.

Mohamed Harkat said that he would be persecuted by the Algerian government if he returned, due to his past membership in the FIS.

Mohamed Harkat's claim was accepted on February 24,1997 and he was recognized as a refugee by Canada.

Mohamed Harkat worked as a gas station attendant and a deliveryman for Pizza Pizza during his first seven years in Canada.

Mohamed Harkat was in contact with Fahad al-Shehri, who was later deported from the country.

In 1996, after el-Barseigy moved to a new home, Mohamed Harkat moved to 391 Nelson Street, Apartment 1.

Mohamed Harkat became addicted to gambling, and lost several thousand dollars - prompting authorities to ask where he'd gotten the money in the first place.

Mohamed Harkat said that a man named Wael, a mutual friend with Harkat's close friend Abdel Mokhtar, had come to Canada with $60,000 to start a business.

Mohamed Harkat stated that the money was from Mokhtar, rather than Wael.

Mohamed Harkat married Canadian citizen Sophie Lamarche, who he met at the gas station he worked at, in January 2001.

Mohamed Harkat was arrested in Ottawa on December 10,2002 as a threat to national security, after a security certificate was issued on the recommendation of CSIS.

Public statements indicated that Abu Zubaydah, who was waterboarded during harsh interrogations by the United States, described a man "similar to" Mohamed Harkat running a guest house in Pakistan that shuttled mujahideen to Chechnya, although he did not use Mohamed Harkat's name.

On May 23,2006, Mohamed Harkat was released on a $100,000 bail by Justice Dawson.

Additionally, Mohamed Harkat was required to wear a tracking bracelet and was prohibited from using electronic means of communication.

Mohamed Harkat was released after being questioned about the matter.

On September 24,2008, judge Simon Noel ruled that CSIS must disclose their "secret" evidence against Mohamed Harkat, allowing him and his lawyers to view the material.

Six months later, Judge Noel ordered the release conditions be loosened, allowing Mohamed Harkat to remain home alone without requiring his wife to be present at all times.

In December 2010, Federal Court Judge Simon Noel deemed Mohamed Harkat a member of the terrorist network and linked him to several Islamic extremists, including Canadian Ahmed Said Khadr, Saudi-born Ibn Khattab and Abu Zubaydah.

Mohamed Harkat said Harkat operated a guest house for Khattab in Peshawar, Pakistan for at least 15 months.

Noel found that Mohamed Harkat offered assistance to two Islamic extremists who travelled to Canada.

In May 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that security certificate process used against Mohamed Harkat was fair and reasonable.

In doing so, it upheld the government's security certificate and reinstated Noel's decision that found Mohamed Harkat to be an active member of the al-Qaida network.

In March 2016 filmmaker Alexandre Trudeau, the younger brother of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, wrote a letter to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale asking that Mohamed Harkat be allowed to stay, causing Erin O'Toole, the Conservative public safety critic and Democracy Watch to demand the Prime Minister recuse himself from any decision regarding Mohamed Harkat.

The danger opinion package with Mr Mohamed Harkat's submissions was provided to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for decision on March 8,2017, and a senior officer was assigned to consider the case on March 31,2017.

Jackman applied to court seeking an enhanced hourly fee and the payment of experts' fees, an application which was denied in June 2020 on the basis that Mr Mohamed Harkat had not appealed his denial of legal aid and had provided insufficient information to the court about his finances.

Mohamed Harkat has been litigating the terms of his release and monitoring conditions.