Ahmed Said Khadr

Ahmed Said Khadr (1945-2003) (sometimes called Ahmed Saeed Abdur Rehman Khadar) was an Egyptian-Canadian man living in Afghanistan, who was a supporter of al-Qaeda and an associate of Osama bin Laden.

Khadr immigrated to Canada from Egypt as a young man. He and his wife Maha Elsamnah, a Palestinian-Canadian who he met after his arrival, had six children, among which are four sons, Omar, Abdullah, Abdurahman, and Abdul Karim; and two daughters, Zaynab and a younger daughter who is still a minor.

In 1980, inspired by the jihad declared by Muslim scholars against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Khadr travelled there, and met bin Laden. His young family joined him there shortly afterwards.

In 1985 Khadr started working in Peshwar as volunteer co-ordinator for the charity Human Concern International.

In 1992 Khadr was injured by a land mine, and returned to Canada for over a year of recuperation.

Khadr's name became widely known in Canada in 1996, when he was arrested by the Pakistani government for an alleged role in a terrorist bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad. He launched a hunger strike and was interviewed in hospital, proclaiming he was innocent and that his work consisted solely of charitable work to provide food and schooling to Afghan orphans.

As Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien happened to then be visiting Pakistan, he mentioned the matter to Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and managed to secure Khadr's release.

Human Concerns International cut its ties to Khadr after his arrest by Pakistani Security officials. Khadr then founded his own charity, Health and Education Project International.

In 2001, Khadr and his family attended the wedding of bin Laden's son, Mohammed, a friendly gesture which bin Laden reciprocated when he later attended the wedding of Khadr's daughter Zaynab.

Khadr is believed to have been killed in Afghanistan sometime in 2003 during a shootout with Pakistani soldiers. His son Abdul Karim, then 14, was paralyzed in the same incident.

Another son Abdurahman was held at Guantanamo Bay and later released, and Omar is presently being held there by the U.S. government.

Quotes about Khadr

• "We believe dying by the hand of your enemy because you believe in… you're doing it in the way of Allah, that it's the best way to die. My father had always wished that he would be killed… he would be killed for the sake of Allah. I remember when we were very young he would say, if you guys love me, pray for me that I get jihaded, which is killed." — Khadr's daughter Zaynab, on her father

External link

• CBC – The Khadrs
• Press release from the charity Human Concern International saying they cut their ties with Khadr in 1995, and that he then set up his own charity, Health and Education Project International.