Canadian immigration officials hold Syrian on terrorism charges

November 10 2009 by Liam Clifford

Hap-hazard immigrant or Hezbollah security risk?

A Saudi Arabian-born Syrian citizen has unwittingly become the centre of a political melee concerning Middle Eastern terrorism. The drama began last month when Khaled Nawaya was stopped by guards crossing the Canadian border, Nawaya who has a degree in aeronautics and a pilot’s license had planned to move to Canada permanently.

When guards searched the car he was travelling in, they found it was full of ‘security red flags.’ Canadian immigration officers firstly found a ring with the Hezbollah logo emblazoned onto it, Hezbollah is viewed by many as a terrorist organisation although the organisation holds seats in the Lebanese government. Officers then discovered video’s of 9/11 and a scarf depicting former US and Israeli leaders as two monkeys. He was immediately arrested.

Mr Nawaya, 35, was also found with $10,000 on his person and $70,000 in cash as well as another $800,000 in Canadian gold coins in the vehicle. The Syrian immigrant who had been living in the US on a student visa is said to have planned to move to Canada and that it is why he brought the gold coins, he has claimed he gave his brother money to buy them on the Internet.

Mr Nawaya’s lawyer, Phil Rankin, has claimed that his client is the ‘sweetest guy in the world’ and was granted permanent residency in Canada prior to his arrest, this involved numerous security checks. He went on to say that "…the fact that he's Middle Eastern, he has a ring and a scarf was enough to send them over the deep end and it did,"

Nawaya remains in a Vancouver-area detention centre. Where he is being kept pending further investigation.

The nature of Nawaya’s intentions as yet remains unknown, however, Hezbollah, by their own admission, is a sophisticated organisation. It would seem farcical that any actual operative would be naïve enough to carry a ring signifying membership, across an international border.

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