Canada deports convicted terrorist to Lebanon
Posted May 14, 2013 12:38 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – Twenty-five years after being ordered out of the country, Canada has finally deported convicted terrorist Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad.
In 1968, he killed one person when attacking an Israeli passenger plane at the airport in Athens, Greece.
Mohammad was released from prison two years after the attack as a part of hostage negotiations.
He lied to Canadian officials to immigrate to Burlington, Ont. in 1987, and even though he was ordered to be deported the following year he used appeals to stay here for more than two decades.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says this highlights the problems we have had with our old system.
“Mr. Mohammed flagrantly violated Canada’s fair immigration laws and this country’s generosity. He made a mockery of our legal system.”
But Kenney says this kind of situation will never happen again because of new stricter rules the Harper government has put in place on immigration and deportation.
“I think this man insulted Canadians and the generosity of our system and that’s why I’m so pleased that we finally removed him and have changed the laws to prevent something like this happening in the future.”
Kenney couldn’t provide specific numbers but says this 25-year legal battle has easily cost Canadian taxpayers millions of dollars.
