Mahmoud Es-Sayyid JaballahAl-Ahram, Militant sought from Canada , May 1999Lemieux, Justice. "Hassan Almrei and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Minister of Public Safety. ""Reasons for Judgment and Judgment", October 5, 2007 () is an Egyptian who has been detained in Canada without charge on a "security certificate" since August 2001 due to his association with members of al-Jihad."Met top al-Qaeda figure just for tea, Egyptian says", The Globe and Mail, May 26, 2006 He has consistently asserted that he does not believe in violence, and just because he phones or visits people, does not mean that he shares their beliefs.CTV, Jaballah denies links to terrorist groups, July 11, 2006
Life While studying at the University of Zagazig in Egypt, Jaballah was involved in a student group named Badr which distributed pamphlets, a weekly periodical and arranged field trips for students. He stated that the University dean eventually expelled the professor who organised the group for his "anti-government political activity".
He was arrested in 1981 and accused of membership in al-Jihad and of participating in the assassination of Anwar Sadat, but was found innocent at trial. He was re-arrested in 1987 and again accused of membership in the group, but the court again found him innocent of all charges.
Jaballah left Egypt in July 1991 and worked in Pakistan from November 1991 through June 1994, first as a biology teacher and then as a school principal under the International Islamic Relief Organization.Personal Information Form (PIF) submitted by Jaballah He has denied claims from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) that he also fought in Afghanistan and Chechnya. Jaballah denies terrorist training , Toronto Star, May 18, 2006, canada.com, May 19, 2006
He claims to have stayed in Azerbaijan from September 1995 through March 1996.Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and Mahmoud Jaballah, Reasons for Order, FCTD, November 2, 1999, pp. 20 to 24.
He married Husnah Mojammad El-Sayyed El-Mashtouli, with whom he has six children. She and four of the children have been granted refugee status in Canada.
In Canada Jaballah entered Canada on May 11, 1996 and applied for refugee status. He admitted that he was using a false Saudi passport, that had stamps indicating the bearer had traveled from Egypt to Saudi Arabia, entered Pakistan ten days before al-Jihad's attack on the Egyptian Embassy in Pakistan, and visited Yemen, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Turkey, and Germany successively.Passport photocopy presented to the courts, p. 7. He stated that he had also used a false Iraqi passport in the past, in order to travel from Pakistan to Yemen, and from there to Azerbaijan, from 1994 to 1996.Immigration and Refugee Board Transcript, May 6, 1998Immigration and Refugee Board Transcript June 15, 1998 Muayyed Nureddin offered to drive him around the city if necessary because he was a newcomer without transportation, but the two never became friends.Pither, Kerry. "Dark Days: The Story of Four Canadians Tortured in the Name of Fighting Terror", 2008.
By November 2006, he had arranged a postal box in the city [what city?], and registered [with whom and for what reason?] under the name Bellal. He was visited by CSIS agents shortly after arriving. His son maintains that the CSIS agents were upset because Jaballah refused to spy for them. The agency has denied that it attempted to recruit Jaballah.CTV, Canadian prison being called Guantanamo North, December 3, 2006
Alleged associations
The month after entering Canada, CSIS alleges Jaballah began phoning suspected al-Jihad members still living in Pakistan and spoke of acquiring new clothing, which Canadian authorities allege was a code word for travel documents.Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Summary of the Security Intelligence Report concerning Mahmoud Jaballah, February 22, 2008 He also remained in contact with al-Jihad ruling council members Ahmad Salama Mabruk and Thirwat Salah Shehata, the latter had served as Jaballah's lawyer in Egypt and married Jaballah's sister.Tab 9, MCI et al. v. Mahmoud Jaballah, DES-6-99, Transcript of Proceedings, June 8, 1999, p. 95Tab 11, MCI et al. v. Mahmoud Jaballah, DES-4-01, Transcript of Proceedings, July 11, 2006, pp. 856-858 He denied any relationship with Mabruk.
In September, Jaballah was advised to use caution when contacting "the father", believed to be a reference to Ayman al-Zawahiri. He responded that he was usually contacted by the father, not vice versa. Two months later, he mentioned to Shehata that he hadn't heard from the father, but was assured that he was all right and just had some difficulties communicating recently. In a later phone call to Yemen, he asked a colleague to deliver a message to the father from him. In April 1997, Jaballah received a telephone call from the father who asked him how he was faring in Canada. Ten months later, he was given the number for an Inmarsat satellite phone to contact "Mohammed", which Canadians allege was a reference to Mohammed al-Zawahiri, and phoned it frequently.
In October 1996, al-Jihad's London leader Adel Abdel Bary contacted Jaballah to say that he was shipping him several books and periodicals, including al-Mujahideen and al-Faqr for distribution in Canada, and copies of the Shifaa and some audio cassettes he asked to be forwarded on to Shehata. He also offered to ship him a phone card printing machine to ensure he was able to easily communicate overseas.
In November 1996, Shehata, his brother-in-law told Jaballah that he was in Syria and preparing to go stay with "Daoud", believed to be a reference to Ibrahim Eidarous who was staying in Azerbaijan. That same month, he was informed by a friend that Mohammad Zeki Mahjoub had moved to Toronto, whom both had known in Afghanistan. He later met Mahjoub briefly while picking his wife up from the Khadr's house where Mahjoub was also visiting. Jaballah returned the greeting, introducing himself to Ibrahim by the kunya name Abu Ahmad and left. Although Mahjoub was found with the phone number of Jaballah's son at the time of his arrest, 289-2361 under the name Abu Ahmed ("Father of Ahmed"), Jaballah denied having ever spoken on the phone with him.MCI et al. v. Mahmoud Jaballah, DES-4-01, Transcript of Proceedings, September 9, 2005, pp. 430-433Transcript of Proceedings, Volume 7, Between Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and Solicitor General of Canada and Mohamed Zeki MAHJOUB, p .687.
On December 13, Jaballah was informed that his friend "Najib" had been hospitalised, which authorities suggest was a reference to Ahmad Salama Mabruk being imprisoned along with Ayman al-Zawahiri and Mahmud Hisham al-Hennawi by Russian authorities as they tried to cross into Chechnya.Wall Street Journal, "Saga of Dr. Zawahri Sheds Light On the Roots of al Qaeda Terror" Jaballah promised to raise funds in Canada to help Nijab while Shehata did the same in Azerbaijan. Hani Yusef al-Sebai contacted him at this time, explaining that he was staying near Shehata and helping with the fundraising for Mabruk's release. During one telephone call, Jaballah hung up abruptly on al-Sebai explaining he had security concerns and they should speak on his cell phone in the future. He contacted Eidarous on January 1 to ask how he would arrange a cash transfer from the British Bank Middle East to Azerbaijan under the name Khalil Yaseen Mohammed Mahmoud, and a few days later phoned Shehata to say he was unable to transfer the funds to him. Shehata told him to just send the funds for Mabruk's release to Daoud's postal box in London.
In September 1997, Bary was replaced by Ibrahim Eidarous as the leader of the London organisation, and Jaballah began phoning him instead, still referring to him as "Daoud", to discuss matters.
In July 1998, Jaballah phoned Ibrahim Ismail Allam and passed on a message Shehata had asked him to deliver. A month later, Shehata phoned Jaballah and told him that he'd moved to Lebanon, but didn't have a phone in his new location. He never again contacted Jaballah.Testimony of Husnah Mojammad El-Sayyed El-Mashtouli, August 20, 1999 before the Federal Court of Canada. p. 688.
In the summer of 1998, following the bombings of two American embassies, Eidarous, Bary, al-Sebai, Khalid al-Fawwaz and Sayyid Ahmed al-Maqsud were among eight men arrested in London, England for their relationship with al-Jihad. Canadian authorities interviewed Jaballah on September 21 and again on the 26th to question him since he had phoned all five men. Jaballah said that he had read of the London arrests on the al-Hayat website but hadn't heard who specifically had been arrested. When shown a list of the arrested men's names in Arabic, he claimed to not recognise any of them, and when challenged retorted that perhaps he had known them by other names since he knew a lot of people overseas, but didn't recognise the names in front of him. He was asked to name everybody he'd contacted who lived overseas and give CSIS their telephone numbers. Jaballah refused.CSIS interview with Jaballah, September 26, 1998 He further stated that the bombings were likely carried out by the Egyptian Intelligence Service to allow them to arrest those opposed to the regime. After the interviews, Jaballah phoned Eidarous and told him that Canadian authorities had asked about him, and even referred to him as Daoud.
He has since argued that he knew Bary due to his role as director of the International Office for the Defence of Egyptian People, and was seeking help preparing for his upcoming hearings before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, although he admitted having contacted him a month after arriving in Canada, several months before he began preparing for his IRB hearing.MCI et al. v. Mahmoud Jaballah, DES-6-99, Transcript of Proceedings, June 8, 1999, pp. 60-61MCI et al. v. Mahmoud Jaballah, DES-4-01, Transcript of Proceedings, July 12, 2006, pp. 958-959.
In 1998, Barakat Fahim Ali Mohamed was contacted by Jaballah, who wanted an immediate set of false documentation for himself and his family in case Canadian authorities declined his request for refugee status or pursued him. In October 1998, he asked Mohamed whether he had received the necessary photographs of his children and was disappointed to learn that he had not. In March 1999, Jaballah unsuccessfully tried to send Mohamed a fax with his address details, and phoned him repeatedly. He was told that "the thing" was ready for him, and would be sent out after Eid, assuming the fax had been received by then. He was given details about a Yemeni post office box where it is believed he sent money to pay for the fake identification. By the end of April, Canadian authorities allege that Mohamed sent a letter postmarked in Yemen and signed "Murad", which was addressed to "Bellal", but sent to Jaballah's postal box. It simply stated that the sender was sorry to have not heard from him since Eid, and that he hoped he would get in contact soon.