Fateh Kamal
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Fateh Kamel is an Algerian who was arrested in 1999 on charges of supporting a terrorist plot against attacks against French targets in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, and was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. He was released early for good behaviour, and returned to Canada.


Early life

Kamel is believed to have fought the
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...
, and moved to Canada in 1987 or 1988.CNEWS, , January 29, 2009 He married a schoolteacher in
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, and was granted
Canadian citizenship Canadian nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of Canada. The primary law governing these regulations is the Citizenship Act, which came into force on February 15, 1977 and is applicable to all provinces and ...
in 1993, and owned the ''Artisanat Nord-Sud Craft Store'' in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
.Williams, Paul L. "Al Qaeda: Brotherhood of Terror", 2002 In the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
, he was injured in the foot while fighting in
Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
.
Evan Kohlmann Evan F. Kohlmann (born 1979) is an American cyberintelligence professional who is the founder and chief executive officer of Cloudburst Technologies. Before founding the company, he worked as a terrorism consultant for the FBI, DOJ, SO15, and o ...
has suggested that he served as third-in-command of a
Zenica Zenica ( ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The ...
mujahideen battalion during 1995 under Abdelkader Mokhtari.Kohlmann, Evan. Global Terror Alert
Abu el-Maali
, 2005
Described as possessing a "slick, polished exterior" and "especially handsome",Kohlmann, Evan. "Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe", p. 186 he traveled between Milan, Montreal, Paris, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Zagreb, Bosnia, Copenhagen, Australia, Slovenia, Freibourg, Morocco, Acone, Istanbul, Belgium and Amsterdam over a period of three years from 1994–97. In 1996, he stated to friends that he would "prefer to die than go to jail", speaking of how he almost lost his wife and newborn son. When authorities pursued French militant
Christophe Caze Christophe Caze (22 October 1969–29 March 1996) was a French terrorist and criminal, a former medical student in Lille, France. Caze was one of France's foremost terrorists. Caze was raised Catholic. A medical student, he travelled to Bosnia in ...
, it was discovered that his address book contained the contact information of Kamel. Returning to Canada, he is alleged to have led a group of radical Montreal
Islamists Islamism is a range of Religion, religious and Politics, political ideological movements that believe that Islam should influence political systems. Its proponents believe Islam is innately political, and that Islam as a political system is su ...
, including
Ahmed Ressam Ahmed Ressam (; also Benni Noris; born May 9, 1967), also known as the "Millennium Bomber", is an Algerian al-Qaeda member who lived for a time in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He received extensive terrorist training in Afghanistan. He was convicte ...
. In 1991 he is believed to have attended an
Afghan training camp 300px, Terrorists who trained at camps in Afghanistan and fought in insurgencies around the world during the 1990s An Afghan jihadist camp, or an Afghan training camp, is a term used to describe a camp or facility used for militant training loca ...
, and returned to Montreal where he stole money and identity documents to support his group's plans to bomb Parisian metro stations, and a series of attacks in the city of
Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...
.


Arrest

He was arrested in Jordan in March 1999, and extradited to France, where he was convicted and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for providing false passports in support of terrorism. After his early release from prison for good behaviour, he returned to Montreal in January 2005, where he was living with his wife and son until Canada brought
deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...
orders against him.MacLeon, Ian.
Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...
,
The warning lights were all blinking red
", February 23, 2008


Return to Canada

Kamel returned to Canada on January 29, 2005. Conservative
Public Safety Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensu ...
critic
Peter MacKay Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965), a Canadian lawyer and politician, served as Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and as Minister of Justice (Canada), Minister of Justice and Attorney General (20 ...
urged the government to revoke his citizenship and deport the "bad dude" to Algeria.Bell, Stewart.
National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.
, "Terrorist Returns", February 26, 2005
Some critics alleged he was being allowed to return simply to allow the
Canadian Security Intelligence Service The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; , ''SCRS'') is a Intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service and security agency of the Government of Canada, federal government of Canada. It is responsible for gathering, processing, a ...
to track his movements to discover future plots. Five months after returning to Canada, Kamel applied for a passport explaining that he needed to fly to
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
on a business trip. On November 30,
Pierre Pettigrew Pierre Stewart Pettigrew (born April 18, 1951) is a Canadian politician and businessman. Early life and career Born in Quebec City, Pettigrew has a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (197 ...
wrote an internal memo suggesting the application be denied. The Harper government exercised
Royal prerogative The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, Privilege (law), privilege, and immunity recognised in common law (and sometimes in Civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy) as belonging to the monarch, so ...
when it denied Kamel a new passport. In March 2008, Federal Court justice Simon Noel ruled that this had infringed Kamel's rights under the
Canadian Charter The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the ''Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Charter ...
. However, the ruling was set aside by the
Federal Court of Appeal The Federal Court of Appeal () is a Canadian appellate court that hears cases concerning federal matters. History Section 101 of the Constitution Act, 1867 empowers the Parliament of Canada to establish "additional Courts for the better Admi ...
in January 2009 in which the court unanimously agreed the denial of passport on national security ground is justified, despite the arguments of lawyer Johanne Doyon. Kamel launched an appeal to the
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...
but the court declined to hear his case and thus ends the legality challenge of the
Canadian Passport Order Passport Canada (known as the Passport Office prior to June 2006) was an independent, special operating agency of the Government of Canada with bureaucratic oversight provided through Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Passport Ca ...
. In 2010, Kamel attempted to re-apply for a Canadian Passport but was once again refused by the Minister on grounds of national security. He sought judicial review but was dismissed by the Federal Court and subsequently, by the Federal Court of Appeal in 2013.Kamel v. Canada (Attorney General)
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamel, Fateh Living people Algerian emigrants to Canada People from El Harrach Canadian Islamists Islamic terrorism in France Islamic terrorism in Canada 1961 births Canadian people of Algerian descent