Khadr family

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The Khadr family is an Arabic-Canadian family, notable for their ties to the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization coupled with their Canadian nationality.

The Khadr family consists of:

• The father, Ahmed Said Khadr, an Egyptian-Canadian, believed killed in 2003,
• The mother, Maha Elsamnah, a Palestinian-Canadian
• Their children:
  • Omar Khadr (born 1986), a son, captured by American forces and currently held in Guantanamo Bay
  • Abdullah Khadr (born 1981), a son, now returned to Canada from Pakistan, but has since been arrested by the RCMP
  • Abdurahman Khadr (born 1983), a son, notable for his press interviews
  • Abdulkareem Khadr (born 1989), a son who is a paraplegic from a shootout with Pakistani forces
  • Zaynab Khadr (born 1979), a daughter, whose wedding was attended by Osama bin Laden
  • A younger daughter who is still a minor

[edit] Abdulkareem Khadr

While a young child he moved to Afghanistan with his parents. Maha Elsamnah has said she did not want to raise her children in Canada because she believed they would have gotten involved with drugs and homosexual relationships. In 2003, his father was killed in a shootout with Pakistani soldiers; during the same shootout, Abdulkareem Khadr was wounded in the spine with a bullet. This event left him a paraplegic, unable to walk upright.

On April 13, 2004, Khadr and his mother returned to Canada, flying from Islamabad, Pakistan, to Toronto. As he was wheeled through the airport, Khadr was asked by reporters what he thought of his return; he merely flashed a peace sign and smiled. He is now living in Toronto with his mother.

Some commentators have called for Kareem's mother to lose custody of her minor children, on the grounds that encouraging ones children to become suicide bombers is a form of child abuse.

[edit] Zaynab Khadr

Zaynab Khadr is the eldest child and a single mother herself. She was interviewed for the documentary Son of al Qaeda in 2004. She returned to Canada on February 17, 2005, and Canadian officials seized her computer and documents, later claiming that they revealed the location of multiple al-Qaeda agents in the middle east.

[edit] External links

• Macleans In-depth Article about the Khadrs
• The Good Son, originally published in the National Post, December 28, 2002 -- mainly about Omar, but also gives quotes and aneddotes about other family members, including grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.
• Globe and Mail: Khadr mother and son return to Canada
• Khadr Laptop Seized at Pearson Airport, March 3, 2005
• In Canada, an Outcast Family Finds Support: U.S. Detention of Teen Draws Concern, Washington Post, June 9, 2005
• Mounties uncover 'Al Qaeda' cache: Plans, tapes diaries seized at Pearson Zaynab Khadr denies they belong to her Toronto Star, June 14, 2005
• Toronto hearing a window on terror probe, Toronto Star, June 18, 2005
• The Khadr effect, Globe and Mail, October 3, 2005