Ahmad Abou El-Maati
1801937
217287978
2008-06-05T11:49:43Z
Good Olfactory
6454287
Quick-adding category "Prisoners and detainees of Egypt" (using [[WP:HOTCAT|HotCat]])
'''Ahmad Abou El-Maati''' (born [[October 1]], [[1964]]) is a Canadian citizen who was arrested and detained for two and a half years in Syrian and Egyptian prisons. He had found a Visitor's Map to Ottawa and was traveling to Syria to get married ([http://www.amnesty.ca/english/main_article_home/elmaatichronology.pdf El-Maati Chronology]). This evidence, as well as the post-September 11th fear, led him to be considered a suspected [[Canada|Canadian]] [[terrorist]] ([http://www.amnesty.ca/english/main_article_home/elmaatichronology.pdf El-Maati Chronology]). He is the brother of suspected [[Canada|Canadian]] [[terrorist]] and suspected [[Al-Qaeda]] member [[Amer el-Maati]]. In 2001 El-Maati was the subject of a [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] investigation into what appeared to be a terror plot involving an 18-wheeler. He worked as a truck driver. For a detailed account written by El-Maati and legal counsel, see [http://www.amnesty.ca/english/main_article_home/elmaatichronology.pdf El-Maati Chronology].
== Biography ==
El-Maati was born in [[Kuwait]] to Canadian citizens [[Badr El-Maati]], an [[accountant]], [[auditor]] and [[business consultant]] who originates from [[Egypt]], and [[Samira Al-Shallash]] a teacher from [[Syria]]. He took five lessons towards a [[pilot's license]] before dropping the progam.<ref name="journ">[http://www.djh.dk/STudiePDF/Journalismafter911.pdf Journalism after September 11]</ref>
== Arrest ==
El-Maati was stopped at the [[United States-Canadian Border]] on August 16, 2001, where customs officials found a map of [[Ottawa]] listing both government and nuclear research facilities, which was later found to be a government-issued visitor's map. Ahmad denied knowledge of the map. Police issued a total of seven [[Search warrant|Search Warrants]], without results.{{Fact|date=August 2007}} Claiming frustration with the ongoing police involvement, Ahmad left to [[Syria]] in 2001 to complete the marriage ceremonies with his fiancee. The legal marriage papers would enable him to apply for her to enter Canada. He never met her there, and sometime after his arrest her family annulled the marriage.
He was jailed upon his arrival in Syria, he made a confession, which he later retracted, that he had been a part of a [[terrorism]] plot involving two fellow Syrian-Canadians, [[Maher Arar]] and [[Abdullah Almaki]], who were then arrested.
On September 6, 2005, a front-page article in the ''[[Globe and Mail]]'' newspaper revealed that the map in question was of the [[Tunney's Pasture]] government complex in the west end of [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]].<ref name=GlobeAndMail050906>
[[Jeff Sallot]], [[Colin Freeze]], [http://globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050906/MAP06/TPNational/?query=el+maati It was hyped as a TERRORIST map It was cited by Egyptian TORTURERS It is a VISITOR'S GUIDE to Ottawa], ''[[Globe and Mail]]'', Tuesday, [[September 6]] [[2005]] [http://www.pharmacy.ualberta.ca/apsa/documents/september612.pdf - mirror (.pdf)]</ref>
The map, an old version, showed government buildings including a [[Health Canada]] virus lab as well as a nuclear research facility belonging to [[Atomic Energy of Canada]]. However, these offices had been relocated prior to El-Maati's detainment at the border. They have since been demolished and transformed into parking lots.
:"The Globe and Mail has learned that the map -- scrawled numbers and all -- was in fact produced and distributed by the Canadian federal government. It is simply a site map, given out to help visitors to Tunney's Pasture, a sprawling complex of government buildings in Ottawa, find their way around."
==Government Inquiry==
The Canadian government has ordered a public inquiry into Mr. El-Maati's and two other men who also experienced detention in Syria. <ref>http://www.iacobucciinquiry.ca/index.htm Internal Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abouz-zElmaati and Muayyed Nureddin</ref>
==See also==
The following Canadian citizens have been sent to prisons in other countries under circumstances similar to Arar:
*[[Abdullah Almalki]]
*[[Arwad al-Boushi]]
*[[Maher Arar]]
*[[Bashir Makhtal]]
*[[Muayyed Nureddin]]
==References==
<references/>
==External links==
*{{cite web |url=http://www.iacobucciinquiry.ca/index.htm |title=Internal Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abouz-zElmaati and Muayyed Nureddin |author=The Honourable Frank Iacobucci QC LLD, inquiry commissioner |accessdate=2008-01-10 |publisher=Government of Canada}}
*[http://www.amnesty.ca/english/main_article_home/ahmadelmaatibio.pdf Ahmad El-Maati Biography] (PDF)
*[http://www.amnesty.ca/english/main_article_home/elmaatichronology.pdf El-Maati Chronology] (PDF)
*Google Maps [http://maps.google.ca/maps&ll=45.405908,-75.737879&spn=0.008787,0.018041&t=k&hl=en satellite photo] and [http://maps.google.ca/maps&ll=45.405908,-75.737879&spn=0.008787,0.018041&hl=en map] of Tunney's Pasture
{{CanadianTerrorism}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:El Maati, Ahmad}}
[[Category:Canadians imprisoned abroad]]
[[Category:Canadians of Arab descent]]
[[Category:People imprisoned on charges of terrorism]]
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Truck drivers]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of Syria]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of Egypt]]