Canada decides on Sudan 'suspect'

Abousfian Abdelrazik says he went to Sudan in 2003 to visit his ailing mother

A Canadian court has ordered the Ottawa government to allow the return of an al-Qaeda suspect, who has spent the last six years in Sudan.

Abousfian Abdelrazik, who has dual Canadian-Sudanese citizenship, was arrested in Sudan after going there on a visit in 2003.

Canada has been refusing to issue him with an emergency passport so he can leave, and he has been in the lobby of the Canadian embassy for a year.

He denies any links to terrorism.

A Canadian federal judge in Ottawa has now ruled that the Canadian government has failed to justify its decision not to help Mr Abdelrazik.

He said the government should issue him with an emergency passport and arrange to fly him from Sudan to Canada within 30 days.

Mr Abdelrazik says he was beaten and tortured while in a Sudanese prison after Canadian agents allegedly recommended his arrest on suspicion of terrorism.

He has not been charged with any crimes, and Canadian intelligence officials have since acknowledged there is no information linking him to any crime.