Khalid Abdullah (Egyptian)

Khalid Abdullah (Arabic: خالد عبد الله) is a Sudanese-Egyptian who was the fiancé of Canadian Zaynab Khadr, and a suspect in the 1996 attack on the Egyptian Embassy in Pakistan.

In July 1995, Ahmed Khadr arranged for his 15-year-old daughter Zaynab to marry Abdullah in December.^[1] Her mother Maha el-Samnah began preparing an apartment for the couple in the family's house,^[2] and Abdullah lived with the family for two months, "like a trial engagement".^[2][3]

Abdullah was 26 at the time of the bombing, and was believed to have purchased one of the trucks used in the attack.^[4][5] He fled to Lahore after the attack, and disappeared.^[6]

He re-surfaced in Tehran in October 1997, and contacted the Khadr family to try to reschedule the wedding he had missed. Ahmed agreed to bring his family on a long vacation culminating in the city for a farewell to the reluctant Zaynab as she started a new life with Abdullah.^[2]

Six months after the couple began living in a rented Tehran apartment, Abdullah phoned his father-in-law to report that Zaynab was inconsolable at being separated from her family, and the marriage wasn't working out. She returned to live with her family.^[2]

In 1999, he was arrested in Pakistan, and was one of hundreds extradited to the Egyptian "Returnees from Albania" tribunal. He was sentenced to a lengthy prison term.^[2][7]

References

1. Center for Strategic and International Studies, Terrorism, Border Reform and Canada-United States Relations Archived 2008-09-12 at the Wayback Machine, April 4, 2002
2. Shephard, Michelle. Guantanamo's Child: The Untold Story of Omar Khadr. New York:John Wiley & Sons, 2008. ISBN 0-470-84117-6.
3. Stackhouse, John. The Globe and Mail, "Canadian sought for questioning in car bombing", September 5, 1998
4. Jeff Tietz (2006-08-10). "The Unending Torture of Omar Khadr". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2009-08-08. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
5. Richard A. Clarke (2003-10-22). "Statement of Richard A. Clarke" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. p. 93. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-04-16. Retrieved 2020-11-03. Khadr and HCI convinced Canadian Government funding agencies to sponsor charitable project for Afghan refugees when in fact the funds were used to provide financial and operational support to Jihad forces. The Pakistani Government also alleged that Khadr siphoned moneys that contributed the 1995 bombing of the Egyptian Embassy in Pakistan. The full text of Statement of Richard A. Clarke to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs at Wikisource
6. Boyle, Theresa. Toronto Star, "Canadian charged in bomb attack", January 5, 1996
7. Air Force Office of Special Investigations report of investigative activity 00444030552023, Interview of (UNK) Khadr, Omar Ahmed, February 24, 2003